J.M. Vereijken

Sustainable protein production and consumption: Pigs or Peas?

Sustainable Protein Production and Consumption: Pigs or Peas? is a book that presents and explores the PROFETAS programme for development of a more sustainable food system by studying the feasibility of substituting meat with plant based alternatives. The emphasis is on improving the food system by reducing the use of energy, land, and freshwater, at the same time limiting the impacts on health and animal welfare associated with intensive livestock production. It is clear that such a new perspective calls not only for advanced environmental and technological research, but also for in-depth societal research, as the acceptance of new food systems is critically contingent on perceptions and attitudes of modern consumers. In this unique multidisciplinary setting, PROFETAS has opened up pathways for a major transition in protein food production and consumption, not by just analyzing the food chain, but rather by exploring the entire agricultural system, including biomass for energy production and the use of increasingly scarce freshwater resources. The study presented here is intended to benefit every stakeholder in the food chain from policymakers to consumers, and it offers guiding principles for a transition towards an ecologically and socially sustainable food system from a multi-level perspective.

Emerging Options and Their Implications

The preceding chapters provide strong evidence for the notion that the use of meat protein in the world is extremely unbalanced, leading to a serious disturbance of the natural structures and biogeochemical processes on which life depends. To put it simply, in the developed countries, in particular, far too much meat protein is consumed to be globally sustainable. As a consequence, there are, on the one hand, excessive emissions in the meat producing countries themselves and, on the other hand, overtaxed natural resources (water, land) in countries that provide much of the meat and feed (developing as well as developed countries). Moreover, the situation is rapidly deteriorating as the world population continues to grow and increasing income in rapidly industrialising countries (China, Brazil) acts as a force driving up meat demand. In view of the nature of this problem, crop-based solutions are called for. This should involve the development of products based on plant proteins that replace meat in a sustainable way. That is the key to the so-called protein transition. However, the PROFETAS projects have demonstrated that this solution will not just require the substitution of one type of protein by another. A satisfactory way of replacing meat proteins will require a whole package of options, which take into account how proteins are linked to other natural and societal issues. The protein transition can be realized only if it is based on a combination of linkages that will satisfy a whole set of constraints. The linkages include: crop choice (addressed in Section 6.2) envisioned use of by-products (6.3.1) consequences for other natural resources (water and energy) (6.3.2) 6