Meat: the Four Futures
Are our choices in the grocery store based on facts, values, habits, or simply a gut feeling of what feels right? Meat: the Four Futures is a collaboration project that aims to provide a broadened perspective in the polarised debate about meat and to pave the way for informed decisions.
Meat: the Four Futures is a science-based conversation about meat consumption and meat production, produced by TABLE, a collaboration between the three universities Wageningen University and Research (WUR), the University of Oxford, and the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU).
The question of whether we should eat meat – and which meat and how much – is a highly topical, sensitive and decisive question, not least from a climate and sustainability perspective. We know our current food system must change – but how? The debate pertaining to this question often becomes polarised and stagnated, instead of nuanced and responsive.
To increase the understanding of how many different perspectives there are regarding the future of meat, the podcast Meat: the Four Futures lets over 30 voices from around ten countries around the world be heard. The ambition is to find common ground, to identify the difference between facts and values and to give listeners the chance to become better listeners.
The project has produced a nine episodes podcast that takes a holistic view of the future of meat, exploring four very different future scenarios. The four future scenarios explored are:
- Efficient meat 2.0 – The only way to feed billions or the root of society's problems?
- Plant-based ’no meat’ – Planet-friendly eating or going against our nature
- Alternative ’meat’ – A utopian evolution or science fiction dystopia?
- Less meat – Triple win for people, planet and animals or elitist and unrealistic?
Find the podcast on the TABLE website, or in your favourite podcast app.
All episodes
Episode 1. Meat: the four futures.
Introducing the four futures & why we focus on meat and livestock
Episode 2. A complicated relationship.
How values, emotions, and where we live impact our views on meat
Episode 3. Efficient meat.
The only way to feed billions or the root of society's problems?
Episode 4. Alternative "meat".
A utopian evolution or science fiction dystopia?
Episode 5. Less meat - win-win-win or elitist?
Triple win for people, planet and animals or elitist and unrealistic?
Episode 6. Plant-based - planet friendly or unnatural?
Planet friendly eating or going against our nature?
Episode 7. Health, biodiversity, animal ethics.
How do the four futures stack up?
Episode 8. Looking back, Looking forward.
What we learned through exploring different meat futures
Episode 9. Will you join the insect revolution?
Everyday snack, food fad, or future staple
Educational material
SLU Future Food has also produced a report summarising insights and lessons learned from the project, expert interviews, podcast production and various workshops: The future of meat - storytelling and dialogues for improved decision making