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.
Author(s): Harry Aiking, Joop de Boer, Johan Vereijken
Series: Environment & Policy
Edition: 1
Publisher: Springer
Year: 2006
Language: English
Pages: 242
Contents......Page 6
Preface......Page 9
List of contributors......Page 11
List of abbreviations......Page 14
1.1. Food, agriculture and sustainability......Page 16
1.2. The PROFETAS approach......Page 22
1.3. Origins of diet proteins in Europe (EU-15)......Page 26
2.1. Introduction......Page 37
2.2. The protein chains: Pork vs. pea-based NPFs......Page 41
2.3. Economic approach to environmental sustainability of protein foods......Page 44
2.4. Measuring environmental sustainability of protein foods......Page 48
2.5. Ecological indicators for sustainable food production......Page 54
2.6. Conclusions......Page 60
3.1. Introduction......Page 65
3.2. Protein-flavour interactions......Page 72
3.3. NPF texture formation......Page 76
3.4. Designing sustainable plant-protein production systems......Page 81
3.5. Breeding: Modifying the protein composition of peas......Page 87
3.6. Methodology for chain design......Page 93
3.7. Options for non-protein fractions......Page 100
3.8. Conclusions......Page 105
4.1. Introduction to consumer behaviour......Page 113
4.2. Socio-cultural potential......Page 117
4.3. Substitution of meat by NPFs: Factors in consumer choice......Page 124
4.4. Substitution of meat by NPFs: Sensory properties and contextual factors......Page 130
4.5. Conclusions......Page 137
5.1. Introduction to societal aspects......Page 142
5.2. National policies and politics......Page 145
5.3. European and global economic shifts......Page 151
5.4. International institutions......Page 157
5.5. Conclusions......Page 163
6.1. Towards crop-based solutions......Page 167
6.2. Crop options......Page 169
6.3. Combined chains......Page 178
6.4. Actor commitment......Page 187
6.5. Actor feedback......Page 193
6.6. Conclusions......Page 199
7.1. Introduction......Page 204
7.2. Environmental sustainability......Page 206
7.3. Technological feasibility......Page 208
7.4. Social desirability......Page 211
7.5. Transition feasibility......Page 215
7.6. Governmental policy options......Page 218
7.7. Industrial policy options......Page 220
7.8. Consumers and other stakeholders......Page 222
7.9. Conclusions......Page 224
History of the future (epilogue)......Page 227
C......Page 230
F......Page 231
L......Page 232
P......Page 233
S......Page 234
W......Page 235
