It is increasingly recognized that food systems are at the center of a wide range of challenges such as climate change, malnutrition, and inequality.
The role of livestock, meat and dairy consumption, and protein in the food system is a matter of growing importance and uncertainty. Global demand for meat and dairy is expected to grow substantially in the coming decades. However, global livestock emits about 14.5% of greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to climate change (FAO, 2013). While proteins are essential to human nutrition, access to protein is unfairly distributed across the world and malnutrition is on the rise (Pyett et al., 2023).
The future of meat and proteins raises a high degree of attention, investment, passion, and disagreement. Some see a future for sustainable livestock, while others argue for the need to shift to plant-based diets. Technological innovations in alternative proteins, precision-fermentation, and cultured meat are developed in labs and scaled in test-kitchens. What radically different futures can these developments generate? How will the so-called ‘protein transition’ take shape as a driver of change in food systems on different continents?
Join us for an interactive webinar on Foresight and the Frontiers of Food: The Future of Protein. Together with Matthew Kessler, from the Swedish University of Agricultural Science and TABLE, we explore the ‘Four Futures of Meat’, and engage in discussions about the following questions:
- What would no meat, less meat, more meat, or alternative meat futures mean for our societies?
- What would be the implications for low- and middle-income countries?
- How can stakeholders apply foresight and scenario thinking to understand these uncertainties better?
This is the first webinar in the Foresight and the Frontiers of Food series. In this series, we combine a foresight perspective with a key transformative phenomenon or ‘weak signal’ that could reshape food systems all across the world. This series takes a global perspective but seeks to discuss particularly what these new frontiers could mean for low and middle-income countries in Africa and Asia.
Topics that we intend to focus on in future webinars include novel foods, shifting diets, artificial intelligence and digital transformations, food, and geopolitics, mistrust and disinformation. Stay tuned for more and reach out to us if you are interested in contributing at info@foresight4food.net