Quality Production—The Most Promising Approach for the Realization of Public Welfare Interests

Public welfare interests must not only be defended against the dominance of particular interests. The latter must, at the same time, be integrated into an overall strategy. This requires an approach that can hold its own in theory and in the context of very heterogeneous initial and boundary conditions. Evidence-based quality production proves to be the key to accessing the realization of common good interests. Process qualities such as animal and environmental protection services correspond directly to improving common goods. At the same time, they offer options for increased value creation through synergy effects. In connection with increased product quality, the farms’ gradually graduated animal and environmental protection services can create the preconditions to compensate for the indispensable additional labor and financial costs. A well-balanced mix of political and market instruments will be needed to reward farms’ quality and public welfare services with appropriate compensation. This raises various questions concerning a valid assessment of quality services, the definition of system boundaries, and how to deal with the actors necessary to achieve a breakthrough in quality production.