The Political Economy of Meat

Lundström, Markus

doi:10.1007/s10806-019-09760-9

Cited by 15 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…[34][35][36] The economic, political and cultural power of meat production and consumption is embedded in the food system. [37][38][39] The economies of some of the richest and most powerful nations and the profit of multinational corporations depend on the export of live animals, animal food products and animal feed. 40 Many humans depend on intensive animal production for livelihoods.…”

Section: Key Messagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…42,43 The "meatification" of both individual diets and national economies is also a marker of social status and economic development. 38,44 To achieve political, economic and cultural transformation in the global over-use of animals in the food system, scholars and scientists have suggested a range of policy tools. These include: withdrawal of subsidies for intensive animal agriculture and for the production of commodity crops for animal feed; increased state support for regenerative or agroecological farming; incentives for development and marketing of healthy alternatives to meat, especially those based on whole legumes, nuts and seeds; taxes on the consumption of meat; strict environmental and welfare standards for animal production; and advice to consumers through dietary guidelines, health advice and mandatory or voluntary food labelling.…”

Section: Key Messagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… 42 , 43 The “meatification” of both individual diets and national economies is also a marker of social status and economic development. 38 , 44…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Can Labelling Create Transformative Food System Change for Human and Planetary Health? A Case Study of Meat

Parker

Carey

Haines

et al. 2020

Int J Health Policy Manag

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Background: One important way to transform food systems for human and planetary health would be to reduce the production and consumption of animals for food. The over-production and over-consumption of meat and dairy products is resource-intensive, energy-dense and creates public health and food equity risks, including the creation of superbugs and antimicrobial resistance, contamination and pollution of land and waterways, and injustice to animals and humans who work in the sector. Yet the continuing and expanding use of animals is entrenched in food systems. One policy response frequently suggested by parties from all sectors (industry, government and civil society) is voluntary or mandatory labelling reforms to educate consumers about the healthiness and sustainability of food products, and thus reduce demand. This paper evaluates the pitfalls and potentials of labelling as an incremental regulatory governance stepping-stone to transformative food system change. Methods: We use empirical data from a study of the regulatory politics of animal welfare and environmental claims on Australian products together with an ecological regulation conceptual approach to critically evaluate the potential of labelling as a regulatory mechanism. Results: We show that labelling is generally ineffective as a pathway to transformative food system change for three reasons: it does not do enough to redistribute power away from dominant actors to those harmed by the food system; it is vulnerable to greenwashing and reductionism; and it leads to market segmentation rather than collective political action. Conclusion: We suggest the need for regulatory governance that is ecological by design. Labelling can only be effective when connected to a broader suite of measures to reduce overall production and consumption of meat. We conclude with some recommendations as to how public health advocates and policy entrepreneurs might strategically use and contest labelling and certification schemes to build support for transformative food system change and to avoid the regressive consequences of labelling.

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Section: Key Messagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Key Messagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Can Labelling Create Transformative Food System Change for Human and Planetary Health? A Case Study of Meat

Parker

Carey

Haines

et al. 2020

Int J Health Policy Manag

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…With the exception of pork, RPM consumption is marginally declining in many high-income countries such as Australia and the United States, 22 and plateauing in others. 23 Despite this declining trend, per capita RPM consumption in high-income countries is three times higher than the global average.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This increases the demand for animal feed, mostly from intensively mono-cropped grain crops such as corn and soy, which contributes to deforestation in places like the Amazon. 21 With the exception of pork, RPM consumption is marginally declining in many high-income countries such as Australia and the United States, 22 and plateauing in others. 23 Despite this declining trend, per capita RPM consumption in high-income countries is three times higher than the global average.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding the Political Challenge of Red and Processed Meat Reduction for Healthy and Sustainable Food Systems: A Narrative Review of the Literature

Sievert

Lawrence

Parker

et al. 2020

Int J Health Policy Manag

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Background: Diets high in red and processed meat (RPM) contribute substantially to environmental degradation, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and the global burden of chronic disease. Recent high-profile reports from international expert bodies have called for a significant reduction in global dietary meat intake, particularly RPM, especially in high-income settings, while acknowledging the importance of animal-sourced foods to population nutrition in many lower-income countries. However, this presents a major yet under-investigated political challenge given strong cultural preferences for meat and the economic importance and power of the meat industry. Methods: A theoretically-guided narrative review was undertaken. The theoretical framework used to guide the review considered the interests, ideas and institutions that constitute food systems in relation to meat reduction; and the instrumental, discursive and structural forms of power that actors deploy in relation to others within the food system. Results: High production and consumption levels of RPM are promoted and sustained by a number of factors. Actors with an interest in RPM included business and industry groups, governments, intergovernmental organisations, and civil society. Asymmetries of power between these actors exist, with institutional barriers recognised in the form of government-industry dependence, trade agreement conflicts, and policy incoherence. Industry lobbying, shaping of evidence and knowledge, and highly concentrated markets are key issues. Furthermore, prevailing ideologies like carnism and neoliberalism present embedded difficulties for RPM reduction. The literature noted the power of actors to resist meat reduction efforts exists in varying forms, including the use of lobbying, shaping of evidence and knowledge, and highly concentrated markets. Conclusion: There are a number of political challenges related to RPM reduction that contribute to policy inertia, and hence are likely to impede the transformation of food systems. Research on policy efforts to reduce RPM production and consumption should incorporate the role of power and political feasibility.

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Ruminant livestock and climate change: critical discourse moments in mainstream and farming sector news media

Simmonds,

Maye,

Ingram

2024

Agric Hum Values

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There is ongoing contestation around greenhouse gas emissions from ruminant livestock and how society should respond. Media discourses play a key role in agenda setting for the general public and policymakers, and may contribute to polarisation. This paper examines how UK news media portrayed ruminant livestock’s impact on climate change between 2016 and 2021. The analysis addresses a gap in the literature by comparing discourses in national and farming sector newspapers using a qualitative approach. Four national and two farming sector news outlets were searched for articles published between 2016 and 2021. A corpus of 996 relevant articles was assembled, from which 154 were selected for in-depth examination using Critical Discourse Analysis. Four ‘Critical Discourse Moments’ (CDMs), each signifying a discursive shift in the debate, were identified over the 6-year studied period: 1) Low salience, diverging discourses, 2) We must eat far less meat, 3) Fighting the anti-meat agenda, and 4) Policy (in)action at COP26. There was a large increase in the number of published articles from January 2019 onward, partly associated with publication of the EAT/Lancet Commission report. CDM 2 (We must eat far less meat) occurred mainly in the national media, while CDM 3 (Fighting the anti-meat agenda) occurred mainly in the farming media. Our findings reveal both opinion polarisation and intergroup polarisation between national and farming sector media, and low engagement with food system power imbalances. Addressing polarisation will be important to enhance capacity for collective decision-making regarding methane emissions from ruminant livestock.

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The Political Economy of Meat

Cited by 15 publications

References 50 publications

Can Labelling Create Transformative Food System Change for Human and Planetary Health? A Case Study of Meat

Can Labelling Create Transformative Food System Change for Human and Planetary Health? A Case Study of Meat

Understanding the Political Challenge of Red and Processed Meat Reduction for Healthy and Sustainable Food Systems: A Narrative Review of the Literature

Ruminant livestock and climate change: critical discourse moments in mainstream and farming sector news media

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