Protein Landscapes: The political geography of the production and consumption of animal proteins

Descrizione del progetto

La sfida di ridurre il consumo di proteine animali

La produzione di carne e latticini contribuisce in modo significativo ai cambiamenti climatici e al degrado ambientale, eppure il loro consumo rimane a livelli storicamente elevati. Cambiare dieta è difficile perché il consumo di carne e latticini è profondamente radicato nelle abitudini culturali. L’industria gioca anche un ruolo potente nel plasmare le scelte dei consumatori e le politiche governative. Tuttavia, si dovrebbe prestare maggiore attenzione al modo in cui la geografia influenza sia la produzione che la resistenza al cambiamento. In questo contesto, il progetto PROTEINSCAPES, finanziato dal CER, studia come le geografie politiche della carne e dei latticini diano forma al paradosso delle proteine. I ricercatori analizzeranno i modelli di produzione e consumo in Europa, condurranno studi di caso in quattro paesi e confronteranno le contestazioni politiche nelle diverse regioni. Il lavoro contribuirà a spiegare perché la riduzione della dipendenza dalle proteine animali rimane così impegnativa.

Obiettivo

Despite the devastating effects of the meat-dairy industry on climate and environment, the production and consumption of animal-based protein is at historically high levels. I refer to this as the protein paradox.

Why are we collectively unable to reduce our reliance on meat and dairy? From the extant literature, we know that changing diet is difficult, especially as the consumption of meat and dairy is culturally normalized in many societies. The literature also reveals that the meat-dairy industry has an outsize influence over consumers and governments. These explanations, however, ignore the uneven geographies of production and consumption, and how they intersect with the political contestation of meat and dairy, entwining with processes of spatial and political polarization.

PROTEINSCAPES thus asks: how can the protein paradox be explained through the political geographies of the production and consumption of animal protein? The research team will pursue: (1) a quantitative study of the protein paradox and landscapes of production and consumption across all EU countries; (2) in-depth qualitative case-study of the politics of consumption in the Czech Republic, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Portugal; and (3) a cross-national comparative study of the role of geography in the political contestation of the transition away from animal protein.

By extending and connecting theory on the geography of transitions and political-spatial polarization to advance a new political geographical approach to study transitions to sustainability, and by advancing the concept of protein landscapes—produced at the intersection of territories, identities and materialities—the project will further our understanding of why the transition away from animal protein is so difficult, the necessary first step in disentangling the wicked problem of the protein paradox.