The welfare standards consumers can demand are partly determined by economic access - addressing inequality is part of a welfare-positive food system.
Animal welfare as a consumer choice is partly a privilege of economic security. When a family is struggling to afford food, the price premium for higher-welfare certified products represents a genuine barrier that welfare advocates should acknowledge rather than dismiss. This does not eliminate the moral case for welfare standards - it strengthens the case for policy solutions that don't rely solely on consumer purchasing power. Subsidized higher-welfare institutional food purchasing (schools, hospitals, prisons), reduced subsidies for intensive animal production, and investment in alternative proteins that could reduce cost while improving welfare address the structural dimension of the welfare-affordability gap. Animal welfare advocacy that ignores economic inequality will fail to build the broad coalitions needed for systemic change.