The emergence of alternative meat in Australia since 2017 leveraged and fuelled pre-existing critical discourses about the health, sustainability and ethics of traditional meat production and consumption. Questions were raised about the possible subsequent disruption of meat industries in Australia, where animal agriculture and meat consumption occupy an esteemed place in national political, economic and cultural life.  The aims of the research were to explore food system professionals’ understandings of these developments, in response to key questions about health, sustainability and ethics in Australian food culture; shifting power relations between food system actors in Australia; and possible disruption of Australia’s traditional meat industries.  Thirty food system professionals were interviewed about these questions during a period of significant social, political and economic change (2021-2023), offering a unique social actor perspective from a cohort rarely accessed by food studies scholars.  Utilising these perspectives, a cultural economy framework for alternative meat was developed that offers a new vantage point from which to consider the future of meat industries, the role of meat in Australian food culture, and prospects for a ‘healthy, sustainable and ethical’ food system. 

Speaker: Jessica Ramsden

Jessica Ramsden holds a Master of Arts (Asian Studies) from ANU and a Master of Arts (Gastronomy) from Adelaide University. She worked for 25 years in the public sector and for private sector food and agribusiness companies before commencing her PhD at NCEPH in 2019.