Synopsis
The environmental footprint of global meat consumption has led to extensive focus on a possible protein transition towards less meat-intensive diets. The idea that other forms of protein can more or less seamlessly replace meat has occupied an increasingly central position in these debates. After much initial hype and investment, however, the so-called alternative protein sector is facing considerable challenges. It has become increasingly evident that much has been taken for granted in this field: just because something can potentially be eaten, this does not mean that it will qualify as desirable and culturally appropriate food. Hence, while alternative proteins can replace meat, it is still unclear how and to what extent this replacement will in fact take place. Research has clearly pointed out that new knowledge is needed on how meat replacement products become acceptable, palatable and edible in real life contexts. It is increasingly evident that Asia will play a pivotal role in a sector that seems set for a new round of innovation and investment. Asia indeed plays a central role in the past of meat replacement as well. Still, and quite surprisingly, Asian contexts have been given little attention in research on alternative proteins. This talk focuses on the idea of replacing meat with other proteins, proposing an understanding of ‘acceptance’ of food that foregrounds social, cultural and practical dimensions. The presentation also zooms in on eastern Asia, with a particular focus on Singapore and Vietnam, both countries with long histories of replacing meat and representing a main innovation hub and important market (Singapore) and a late industry entry and emerging market (Vietnam). Separating between industrial replacement products and existing culturally embedded food practices, it considers both innovation trends and ongoing meat replacement practices in relation to protein futures.
Speaker
Prof Arve Hansen is Research Professor at Centre for Global Sustainability at the University of Oslo, where he leads the centre’s research group Sustainable consumption and energy equity. He has a PhD in Human Geography and his research focuses on consumption and change, particularly the interplay between everyday life and broader socio-material arrangements and political-economic structures. He has done research both in affluent societies (in particular Norway) and Asian emerging economies (in particular Vietnam). Increasingly, his research has centred on meat and meat replacement practices.
Dr Jonas House is a Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow in the School of Geography and Environmental Science at the University of Southampton (UK). His research investigates eating and dietary change from a sociological and geographic perspective. He is interested in how food practices are established, maintained and changed, with a particular focus on shifts in food consumption: for example, novel foods becoming established, foods travelling to new places, shifting public tastes, or changing notions of what ‘food’ actually is. His current research explores how particular things become classified, culturally and practically, as ‘food’, and how this changes over space and time. It focuses on a number of case studies, including practices of meat eating and meat replacement in Singapore.
