Meat: the four futures – Details, episodes & analysis

There are over 2,000 types of insects that people eat across the world. Some of these species could have the potential to be cultivated at scale using less land, less water, and fewer greenhouse gas emissions while supplying a nutritious protein source to many. But what does scaling insect production look like, and will people actually eat them?

In this bonus episode, we dive deep into the world of insects as a potential food source. We visit a Swedish mealworm factory to understand the production process, and speak to researchers in Ethiopia and the Netherlands about the environmental benefits, ethical considerations, and likelihood of Europeans eating insects in the future.

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For more info and transcript, please visit: https://tabledebates.org/meat/episode9

Meat: the four Futures project webpage: https://tabledebates.org/meat

Take the values-based quiz: https://tabledebates.org/meat/quiz

Listen to: Feed, a food systems podcast

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Music by Blue dot Sessions.

Over the last few months, we explored what the future of meat and livestock could look like. We’ve talked about how our values, ethics and where we live in the world can impact our desired futures for meat. And we did a deep dive into four potential futures - efficient meat, alternative “meat”, less meat and no meat.

To wrap up the series, we hear comments and thoughts from the listeners, and podcast host Matthew Kessler shares some personal reflections on what he learned about the future of meat and livestock after making this series.

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Visit the episode page with more resources: https://tabledebates.org/meat/episode8

Project webpage: https://tabledebates.org/meat

Take the values-based quiz: https://tabledebates.org/meat/quiz

Music by Blue dot Sessions and Epidemic sound.

We've heard four distinct visions for the future of meat and livestock. But realistically, won't they all play a role? As we wrap up the series in the next two episodes, we’re going to review what’s in conflict between the four futures and how parts of them might co-exist.

In this episode we ask three experts to consider different arguments presented by the four futures as they relate to health, biodiversity and animal ethics. We ask a professor of diet and population health if it’s better to eat some, a lot, or no meat; we ask a population biologist about how the different futures would help biodiversity to recover; and we ask an animal ethicist about the morality of eating animals and to interrogate the ethical cases put forward by the four futures.

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Visit the episode page with more resources: https://tabledebates.org/meat/episode7

Project webpage: https://tabledebates.org/meat

Take the values-based quiz: https://tabledebates.org/meat/quiz

Music by Blue dot Sessions and Epidemic sound.

Should we remove animals from agriculture and our diets altogether? What if all the land that produces animal feed now could instead produce human food--or be rewilded? Would this be a planet friendly future--or impoverished and unnatural?

In this fourth and final scenario: the plant-based no meat future, we explore the motivations, the evidence and the arguments for adopting a diet that centers and celebrates plants. We visit a vegan restaurant in Stockholm, Sweden; a vegan food tech company in Lagos, Nigeria; and an animal free farm outside of Reading in the United Kingdom.

But is dietary change at a societal scale unrealistic? Is this the most sustainable, ethical and efficient approach to eating and producing food? We explore all this and more.

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Visit the episode page with more resources: https://tabledebates.org/meat/episode6

Project webpage: https://tabledebates.org/meat

Take the values-based quiz: https://tabledebates.org/meat/quiz

Subscribe to the newsletter: https://tabledebates.org/meat/newsletter

Add your voice to the podcast: https://tabledebates.org/meat/contribute

Music by Blue dot Sessions and Epidemic sound.

What if we had a more compassionate approach to farming animals, where we raised and ate fewer animals - and so meat cost more?

We speak with farmers, researchers and campaigners who don’t see farmed animals only as producers of meat and milk, but instead highlight their ability to manage landscapes and to recycle waste and nutrients. They cannot imagine sustainable cropping systems without livestock.

In this less meat future, would this be a win-win-win for animals, people and the planet or is it an unrealistic and elitist vision?

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Visit the episode page with more resources: https://tabledebates.org/meat/episode5

Project webpage: https://tabledebates.org/meat

Take the values-based quiz: https://tabledebates.org/meat/quiz

Subscribe to the newsletter: https://tabledebates.org/meat/newsletter

Add your voice to the podcast: https://tabledebates.org/meat/contribute

Music by Blue dot Sessions and Epidemic sound.

What do some entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, animal activists, and environmentalists have in common? They each envision a future where meat alternatives can tackle the environmental impacts and animal suffering caused by global livestock production.

But in this futuristic vision of replacing livestock with plant-based substitutes and cultivating meat in labs from animal cells - are we living in a utopia or a dystopia?

We speak with scientists, investors, and CEOs from across the world to better understand the motivations, scientific basis, and evidence that either support or raise concerns about the future of alternative 'meat'.

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Visit the episode page with more resources: https://tabledebates.org/meat/episode4

Project webpage: https://tabledebates.org/meat

Take the values-based quiz: https://tabledebates.org/meat/quiz

Subscribe to the newsletter: https://tabledebates.org/meat/newsletter

Add your voice to the podcast: https://tabledebates.org/meat/contribute

Music by Blue dot Sessions and Epidemic sound.

Today we farm and eat meat at a scale not matched in human history. We raise 80 billion animals a year for food at a really low cost to the consumer.  Here we look at how technology, research, and innovation have made animal agriculture much more efficient. 

Do you see efficiency improvements in animal agriculture as essential for feeding a growing population?  Or do you think we should eat less meat, switch to plant-forward diets or create competitive meat alternatives?

We speak with agriculture economists, pig farmers, poultry geneticists, and others who make the best case for an efficient meat future.

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Visit the episode page with more resources: https://tabledebates.org/meat/episode3

Project webpage: https://tabledebates.org/meat

Take the values-based quiz: https://tabledebates.org/meat/quiz

Subscribe to the newsletter: https://tabledebates.org/meat/newsletter

Add your voice to the podcast: https://tabledebates.org/meat/contribute

Music by Blue dot Sessions and Epidemic sound.

What are your first thoughts when you see a piece of steak on a plate or a big pot of chicken soup - healthy meal? piece of animal flesh? comfort food? 

In this episode we explore how our values, ethics and where we live impacts our relationship with meat and livestock.

We dig into the history of the diet  humans evolved to eat, visit Burkina Faso and India to hear two different solutions to meet the surging demand for meat across the global South, and talk about the ethics of eating animals in the West, where we’re often distant and detached from where meat comes from.

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Visit the episode page with more resources: https://tabledebates.org/meat/episode2

Project webpage: https://tabledebates.org/meat

Take the values-based quiz: https://tabledebates.org/meat/quiz

Subscribe to the newsletter: https://tabledebates.org/meat/newsletter

Add your voice to the podcast: https://tabledebates.org/meat/contribute

Music by Blue dot Sessions and Epidemic sound.

Food has this incredible ability to bring people together. But it can also divide us. And how can it not? The same foods that some find so nutritious, that give us such a strong sense of who we are - are also believed by others to be at the center of so many existential concerns - global malnutrition, climate change, biodiversity loss, and inequality. 

Meat sits at the center of this controversy. But is it the problem or the solution? Well, that’s complicated. Meat: The Four Futures aims to bring us together on a journey where we can examine our past and our future, our decisions and the science that informs them.

This podcast will explore four competing visions for meat and livestock: 1) Efficient meat 2.0, 2) Alternative "meat", 3) Less meat, and 4) Plant-based no meat. In this episode we set up the series and unpack the promises and pitfalls with each future.

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Visit the project webpage: https://tabledebates.org/meat

Visit the episode page with more resources: https://tabledebates.org/meat/episode1

Take the values-based quiz: https://tabledebates.org/meat/quiz

Subscribe to the newsletter: https://tabledebates.org/meat/newsletter

Add your voice to the podcast: https://tabledebates.org/meat/contribute

Read the Gut Feelings report: https://tabledebates.org/node/12341

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Music by Blue dot Sessions and Epidemic sound.

Join us as we explore four VERY different visions for what the future of meat and livestock could look like: No meat, more meat, alternative 'meat', and less meat.

For more info, visit: https://tabledebates.org/meat