SFSGEC - Meatification and the madness of the doubling narrative

Authors

  • Tony Weis Department of Geography Western University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15353/cfs-rcea.v2i2.105

Keywords:

meatification, industrial livestock production

Abstract

Since 2008, there has been an increasingly influential narrative that world crop production must (“sustainably”) double from current levels in order to feed over nine billion people by 2050 (FAO, 2009; Ray, Mueller, West, & Foley, 2013; Soil Association, 2010; Tilman, Balzer, Hill & Befort, 2011; UN, 2009), which has been enthusiastically embraced by large agro-input and agrifood corporations. Four prominent drivers feature in this doubling narrative: the magnitude of persistent hunger and malnourishment; further human population growth; expanded biofuel production; and expected dietary changes. At first glance, this conveys the appearance of a sober, objective assessment about the fact that there are many people hungry today, that there will soon be at least two billion more people, that more land is being devoted to biofuels given the limits to conventional fossil energy supplies, and that people with rising incomes will keep eating more animal products in line with past trends, what I have called the meatification of diets.

Author Biography

Tony Weis, Department of Geography Western University

Associate Professor

Department of Geography

Western University

photo of a doorway with a sandwich board promoting thali, burgers, pita sandwiches, and chicken wings in French

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Published

2015-09-08

How to Cite

Weis, T. (2015). SFSGEC - Meatification and the madness of the doubling narrative. Canadian Food Studies La Revue Canadienne Des études Sur l’alimentation, 2(2), 296–303. https://doi.org/10.15353/cfs-rcea.v2i2.105

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 2 (2015): Special Issue: Mapping the Global Food Landscape

Section

Research Articles

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