Ethics more important than looks, so say Britain's singles

09.02.11

With Valentine’s Day just around the corner and some of us gearing up for serious romance, the nation’s single men might be heartened to learn that looks are less important than their ethics when it comes to impressing women.

So say over two thirds of the nations single women (67 per cent), responding to a charity survey published today, which shows that the ethical stance of a romantic partner is more important than their looks for many women. Men however, flag behind a little, with just  52 per cent agreeing that ethics are more important than looks.

And what is the best way to instantly impress an ethically minded partner on February 14th? Choose an ethical restaurant. When it comes to ethical food, research shows that animal welfare is highest on our list of priorities – with 40 per cent citing it as our greatest food concern.

The RSPCA’s Freedom Food, who commissioned the YouGov survey published today (February 9th), have the answer. Get on board with their ‘Simply Ask’ campaign and choose a higher welfare restaurant this Valentine’s Day.

The ‘Simply Ask ’campaign encourages people to think about the welfare credentials of the food they order when they eat out. And restaurants, cafes and pubs that refuse to use whole eggs from hens reared in cruel battery cages, are signing up to the campaign to let customers know about their good welfare practice.

So, the thousands of people setting out to impress their date on February 14th should check out the charity’s ‘restaurant finder’ on www.freedomfood.co.uk/simplyask.  Here they can also find ‘top ten’ recommendations for Valentine’s Day.

In fact, a significant number of people – one in five (22 per cent) of all those surveyed by YouGov – would be more impressed if they were invited to a restaurant such as one offering higher welfare ingredients on Valentine’s Day than if they were invited to one that was not.

“It’s one of the busiest days of the year for eating out” says charity spokesperson, Caroline Gauntlett. “With the research showing that ethics are so important to people, we hope that diners will either choose a restaurant offering higher welfare ingredients or at least ask about the provenance of the food offered if it’s not described on the menus.  If more of us ‘Simply Ask’, more restaurants, pubs and cafes will consider improving their ethical offering”.

Around two thirds of all eggs used in restaurants, pubs and cafes, whether whole, or in liquid form in products such as quiches and cakes, are still sourced from hens kept in battery cages. This compares to less than half of whole eggs produced for boxes sold in supermarkets that come from caged hens.

Caroline Gauntlett adds: “There has been an overall improvement, insofar as figures from Defra show that 50% of UK egg production is now cage free – a welcome 5% improvement since 2009. This is against the backdrop of an increase in overall UK egg production in free-range and caged production and means that a shocking 17 million hens are still being reared in cruel battery cages”.