Meat | TableDebates

A steak and vegetables on a cutting board. Photo by Amirali Mirhashemian via Unsplash.

The Swedish Meat Guide – multidisciplinary research that reached society

Summer and the BBQ season are just about still here. By tradition, meat is the obvious choice for most – it is tasty, rich in protein and micronutrients, and available in an abundance of forms at a reasonable price. However, knowledge and understanding of the negative environmental and health impacts of meat is spreading. But is all meat bad or are some forms preferable over others?This piece is written by FCRN member and previous blog contributor Elin Röös and her colleague Sara Spendrup at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

Record profits for Cargill based on increasing meat demand

The world’s largest agricultural commodities supplier, Cargill, obtained its highest profit in six years based on an increasing demand for meat. Animal nutrition and protein were the largest contributor to quarterly earnings for the company.

Eating better report: The future of eating is flexitarian

This report from The Eating Better Alliance looks at the role of business in leading the way to help people make healthy and sustainable choices, including shifting to more plant-based eating with less and better meat.

Photo: Sarah, A Tasty Snack, Flickr, Creative Commons License 2.0 generic.

Could consumption of insects, cultured meat or imitation meat reduce global agricultural land use?

This paper compares stylised, hypothetical dietary scenarios to assess the potential for reducing agricultural land requirements. It suggests that a combination of smaller shifts in consumer diet behaviour – such as reducing beef consumption by replacing with chicken, introducing insects into mainstream diets and reducing consumer waste – could reduce agricultural land requirements.

Photo: naturalbornstupid, meat, Flickr, Creative Commons License 2.0 generic.

Global meat news survey report on industry trends and impacts

A Global Meat News survey of top industry professionals analysing trading trends and impacts on the meat industry globally shows that most respondents (24%) stated that the pressure to limit meat consumption was the factor that hit the industry as a whole the hardest in 2016.

Photo: Oliver Hallmann, Steak, Flickr, Creative Commons License 2.0 generic.

Red and processed meat, and human and planetary health

In this editorial in the medical journal BMJ, professor of epidemiology John D. Potter discusses the mounting evidence that our current levels meat consumption harms human health and is equally bad for the planet.

Photo: Lablascovegmenu, vegan fried rice, Flickr, Creative Commons License 2.0 generic.

BBC podcast from Wellcome Collection: Should We All Be Vegetarians?

BBC’s Claudia Hammond and Tim Cockerill hosted an event at the Wellcome Collection that can now be listened to online.

Less beef, less carbon: Americans shrink their diet-related carbon footprint

This report, by the US based NRDC (The Natural Resources Defense Council) finds that the per capita diet related carbon footprint of the average US citizen decreased by 10% between 2005 and 2014, driven by a 19% decrease in beef consumption.

Photo: Erik Edgren, taro burger, Flickr, Creative Commons License 2.0 generic.

How Do Dietary Choices Influence the Energy-System Cost of Stabilizing the Climate?

In this paper, using three scenarios for food demand, the researchers model and highlight the indirect relationship between greenhouse gas (GHG) emission abatement within the food supply system and the energy system, globally.