‘Less but better’ meat is a sustainability message in need of clarity

Sahlin, Kajsa Resare; Röös, Elin; Gordon, Line

doi:10.1038/s43016-020-00140-5

Cited by 39 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Almost entirely omitted are indicators for animal welfare (see Table 1 ). The lack of consideration of animal welfare reveals a contentious issue regarding the role of animal protein in food system sustainability debate ( Resare Sahlin et al, 2020 ). On the one hand, ample work exists that argues consumption of animal protein is no longer tenable, as it is associated with persistent nitrogen-challenges ( Leip et al, 2015 ; Poore and Nemecek, 2018 ; Sutton et al, 2019 ).…”

Section: A Review Of Food Systems Framework and Metricsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Sustainability Compass for policy navigation to sustainable food systems

Hebinck

Zurek

Achterbosch

et al. 2021

Global Food Security

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Growing acknowledgement that food systems require transformation, demands comprehensive sustainability assessments that can support decision-making and sustainability governance. To do so, assessment frameworks must be able to make trade-offs and synergies visible and allow for inclusive negotiation on food system outcomes relevant to diverse food system actors. This paper reviews literature and frameworks and builds on stakeholder input to present a Sustainability Compass made up of a comprehensive set of metrics for food system assessments. The Compass defines sustainability scores for four societal goals, underpinned by areas of concern. We demonstrate proof of concept of the operationalization of the approach and its metrics. The Sustainability Compass is able to generate comprehensive food system insights that enables reflexive evaluation and multi-actor negotiation for policy making.

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Section: A Review Of Food Systems Framework and Metricsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Sustainability Compass for policy navigation to sustainable food systems

Hebinck

Zurek

Achterbosch

et al. 2021

Global Food Security

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“…This suggests that the participants preferred more sustainable production over productivity. It would be interesting to study if consumers would be willing to pay more for a product coming from these systems or to reduce their level of consumption, as has been suggested by others [ 57 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chilean public attitudes towards beef production systems

et al. 2023

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Much is discussed about the characteristics, efficiency, and externalities of indoor housing and pasture-based beef production systems, but little is known about how these features influence public attitudes towards beef production. This study aimed to explore Chilean citizens’ attitudes towards beef production systems and their underlying reasons. Citizens (n = 1,084) were recruited to participate in a survey and given information about one beef production system: indoor housing, continuous grazing or regenerative grazing. Participants had more favourable attitudes (from 1 = most negative attitudes to 5 = most positive attitudes) towards pasture-based systems (regenerative grazing = 2.94; continuous grazing = 2.83) than towards indoor housing (1.94), mainly due to concerns with animal welfare and environmental impacts. Productivity was not as important as the other sustainability aspects for participants as they were not willing to do that trade-off. Support for beef production may benefit if production systems adopt characteristics that are perceived by the public as positive for the environment and animal welfare.

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“…Therefore, in line with Piipponen et al (2022), our calculation of AGB was reduced in areas where tree cover or steep slopes were present. Contrary to Piipponen et al (2023), however, we further reduced AGB by using the proper use factor (PUF) that reveals how large a share of the biomass animals can sustainably eat. This number is derived from a broad spectrum of literature addressing proper use factors or harvest efficiencies, which indicates the share of AGB that can be sustainably grazed from year to year.…”

Section: Calculating Aboveground Biomass (Agb) On Grazing Landsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Protein and energy from grazing or crops - does livestock have a chance?

Piipponen,

Jalava,

Sahlin

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Producing an adequate food supply to a growing population sustainably is challenging. Despite high-level recommendations for a shift to plant-based diets in most countries, global meat production continues to rise. Yet, we lack a comprehensive geospatial understanding of trade-offs between crops and livestock production efficiency. To address this, we developed a method to examine whether certain grazing lands could be more efficiently used for crop production and quantified the most efficient production system for each agricultural area globally. We found that the largest potential for increased protein production would be to turn grazing land into cropland near existing crop regions, such as the vertical belt stretching from Texas to South Dakota in the US, Southern Chad and South Sudan, Sichuan and Heilongjiang provinces in China. Here, large agricultural areas that are currently used for livestock grazing show strong potential for high protein yields through crop production. By converting all grazing lands to croplands that are at least moderately suitable for crop production (based on our crop suitability assessment), the total protein production could more than triple. Similarly, for grazing lands classified as highly suitable, the rise would still be 48%. Although sustainability factors such as biodiversity and climate impacts warrant further analysis, our study identifies key areas for consideration in strategic planning and policy decisions related to increasing food production.

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‘Less but better’ meat is a sustainability message in need of clarity

Cited by 39 publications

References 24 publications

A Sustainability Compass for policy navigation to sustainable food systems

A Sustainability Compass for policy navigation to sustainable food systems

Chilean public attitudes towards beef production systems

Protein and energy from grazing or crops - does livestock have a chance?

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