TITLE: Uneven meatification of diets in six countries and urgency of re-meatification with plant-meat alternatives. AUTHORS: A. Gray; T. Weis. KEYWORDS: consumption; plant-based meat; corporations; U.S., Germany, Brazil, China, India, Nigeria.
Allison Gray, PhD. Tony Weis, PhD.
doi: 10.15868/socialsector.38939
October 1, 2021
The full title of this Guidance Memo is: The meatification and re-meatification of diets: The unequal burdens of animal flesh and the urgency of plant-meat alternatives.
Six countries (U.S., Germany, Brazil, China, India, Nigeria) are chosen as case studies to illuminate the highly uneven character of global livestock production and meat consumption. This unevenness indicates the need to prioritize certain countries in efforts to address the negative impacts of meatification.
The report also draws attention to some critically important points to bear in mind when trying to address meat consumption and production concerns:
- A handful of huge transnational corporations dominate livestock slaughter and processing, and exert significant influence over meat production and consumption on a world scale.
- The rise in global meat consumption is not only influenced by consumer preferences and demand, but also affected by agrarian changes and powerful actors in the agro-food system seeking to expand livestock production and absorb chronic grain and oilseed surpluses.
- Meatification has triggered serious environmental problems.