Gastronomy is sometimes called the art of food. It can also refer to a style of cooking from a particular region. In other words, gastronomy often refers to local food and cuisine…Sustainable gastronomy, therefore, means cuisine that takes into account where the ingredients are from, how the food is grown and how it gets to our markets and eventually to our plates.
https://www.un.org/en/observances/sustainable-gastronomy-day
The importance of communication about food system greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions cannot be overstated. Our World in Data
Animal Agriculture is an under-reported and under-addressed area of climate action. A recent study found that
“only 7% of climate articles mentioned animal agriculture and they rarely discussed its impact on climate change.”
https://faunalytics.org/animal-ag-in-climate-media/
“While eating less meat overall is a crucial step in tackling climate change, how we go about it makes a huge difference to the impact on farmers. Whether cultured meat goes mainstream is one of many factors at play.
Dr Tom MacMillan and Dr John Dooley’s research is about
- working with farmers to investigate the threats and opportunities
that the technology poses to them, as well as the environmental and health impacts. It is still at a stage where the findings can shape investment and policy and how this turns out.” ~ Dr Tom MacMillan ~ Rural Policy and Strategy Royal Agricultural University (RAU), UK
University of Victoria participants are invited to participate in the University of Victoria online academic community survey about cultured meat by clicking on the link below to provide anonymous survey data stored on Survey Monkey.
Survey – Would you eat a burger made in a petri dish?https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LYX7C77
Please note by completing the survey questions you are consenting to participate in research. Responses to the survey will not be able to be withdrawn after submitted to Survey Monkey.
January 2023, UVic Undergraduate Student Campus Survey Results
“It depends on the cell culture methods being used. Some use animal derived products like fetal bovine serum and other groups use chemically defined media that avoids animal derived products. Usually the processes that use non-animal derived products are more expensive. In theory, UVic could, but it would be expensive to get the resources to make enough cells and get them in the proper structure to generate such cultured meat.”
Dr. Stephanie Willerth, University of Victoria, Microbiology
Read more in Would You Eat Beef from a Petri Dish? ppt presentation in the highlighted Case Study-Pea Protein Burgers
Environmental psychologists note that despite world recognition of the impact of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, a significant percentage of the global population are reluctant and resistant to change (De Boer et al., 2013; Rosenfeld & Tomiyama, 2022).
For the past ten years, environmental psychologists (De Boer et al., 2013; Rosenfeld & Tomiyama, 2022) have noted that disbelief about dietary changes mitigating climate change pose challenges for environmentally-relevant consumer behaviour.
“Skepticism is noted as developing through traditional beliefs about the climate and difficulties with understanding the basic notion of human induced climate change”
De Boer et al., 2013
Dr. Robert Gifford, professor of psychology at University of Victoria, notes structural and psychological obstacles exist that hinder behavioral efforts and suggests dragons of inaction are psychological barriers that limit climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Seven categories of psychological barriers, or “dragons of inaction”:
A Brunswik lens model is a concept of probabilistic functionalism design that is utilized in environmental psychology as a theory of perception, originated by Egon Brunswik. This perception will help with decision making and eventually guide outputs for sustainable products and recipes. The model design considers various input cues to determine an overall rating for sustainable food products in Canada and food products promoted or used on campus.
| Brunswik Lens Model perception cue | Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) | SDG Images | Sustainable Development Goals (UN) |
| a) emissions caused directly by raising animals and livestock (global antropogenic, enteric fermentation and manure); | According to FAO (2015) emissions reduction from the livestock sector can be achieved by reducing production and consumption. |  | Goal 12- Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns. |
| b) production location (cost of transport for distribution) | The production of vegetables is one response to the changing diets and challenges enforced on the food supply that rapid urbanization has caused |  | Goal 2- End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture |
| c) technologies required to use food product/recipe (oven, water, refrigerator) | assumptions may be made about the technologies available, human and natural resources. Increase motivation through developing local commitment including a better understanding of individual priorities |  | Goal 7- Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all |
| d) packaging (is it biodegradable, can it be recycled, reused, edible) | risk factors or sources of pathogens, limited access to piped water, and a lack of cool transport and storage |  | Goal 13- Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. |
| e) waste (ability to change serving size, percentage of food product used | concerns related to: polluted irrigation systems such as the use of wastewater, wastewater treatments. natural ecosystems are degrading due to the unsustainable manner in which resources are being used |  | Goal 6-Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. |
| f) capacity (qualified agricultural expertise, innovative engineering) | The FAO currently hosts a global community of practice that facilitates dialogue, information exchange and sharing of ideas related to the use of information and communication technologies. https://www.fao.org |  | Goal 4- Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong opportunities for all. |
| g) institutional priorities and constraints (square footage, risk, liability, cost, ownership, business contracts, partnerships) | Suggestions to increase motivation through developing local commitment included a better understanding of individual priorities and how those align with institutional priorities constraints and capacities |  | Goal 9- Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation. |
| h) import/export (is it a cash crop for Canadian farmers, or a backyard business) | Institutional determinants that affect smallholder farmers include gender relations, markets, standards, income distribution, land titling and systems of governance |  | Goal 1- End Poverty in all forms everywhere |
A parent’s decision to make dietary changes for climate action may help their child to adapt at a faster and easier rate through modelling and experience. This belief is supported by Darwin’s (1869) Origin of the Species “survival of the fittest” which postulates, the ability to adapt to your environment is the key to reproductive success.
In terms of dietary change, a child that has never eaten specific food products, may never miss their disappearance in the future nor struggle with challenges related to behaviour and dietary change inflicted when a familiar or comforting food product is not available or limited in availability and some may experience cravings or a sense of loss connected to their childhood and memories of family meals. Often the generational passing down of family recipes is a cherished keepsake. Similarly, a child that learns to grow and eat sustainable foods may not struggle with challenges related to 2030 Net Zero goals. Ideally, a child that was surrounded by wisdom provides innovation to others.
Adults in their 40s may never experience the impact of 2050, but the survival and success of their younger successors may depend on the choice to. Business opportunities in the future depend on their expertise related to these problems and innovative solutions. In all likelihood, grant monies from government bodies will require a specific benefit to UN Sustainability Development Goals.
The purpose of this sustainable project is to develop a system of rating food products (i.e. food index) based on sustainability practices that can be modelled for University of Victoria students and staff.
The objective to promote sustainable food products and recipes submitted by community members is based on a published and measurable goals for University of Victoria to achieve net zero through the reduction of GHGE.
References
De Boer, J., Schösler, H., & Boersema, J. J. (2013). Climate change and meat eating: An inconvenient couple?. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 33, 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2012.09.001
Gifford, R. (2011). The dragons of inaction: psychological barriers that limit climate change mitigation and adaptation. American psychologist, 66(4), 290. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023566
Gifford, R., Lacroix, K., & Chen, A. (2018). Understanding responses to climate change: Psychological barriers to mitigation and a new theory of behavioural choice (p. 161-184). In Clayton, S. & Manning, C. (Eds.). Psychology and climate change: Human perceptions, impacts, and responses. New York: Academic. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-813130-5.00006-0
Rosenfeld, D. L., & Tomiyama, A. J. (2022). Would you eat a burger made in a petri dish? Why people feel disgusted by cultured meat. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 80, 101758.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2022.101758
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reported on the global emissions from livestock in 2015, concluding that 3.62B emissions occur directly by raising animals and livestock and is attributed to 11.2 percent of total global antropogenic GHG emissions (FAO, 2015).
An overview of the emissions identifies enteric fermentation (45.3%) and manure-CH4 (7.82%) combine to contribute to more than half of the total emissions.
Enteric fermentation accounts for the methane generated during the digestive process of ruminants (FAO, 2015). The quality of feed is correlated with enteric emissions, noting highly fibrous ingredients yield higher enteric methane emissions (FAO, 2015). Manure is both a source of methane and nitrous oxide, with nitrous oxide mainly generated during manure ammonia decomposition (FAO, 2015).
According to FAO (2015) emissions reduction from the livestock sector can be achieved by reducing production and consumption.
Download and save your own Sustainable Development Goals image here:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sustainable_Development_Goals.png
The United Nations Millennium Declaration aimed to fight against poverty and hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation and discrimination against women by the year 2015; and identified that approximately 70 percent of the target group lived in rural areas, further specifying Asia and Africa, as being dependent on agriculture (Chisenga, 2008).
One of the key actions implemented was the development of e-Agriculture noting the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in a recognized facilitator role. The FAO currently hosts a global community of practice that facilitates dialogue, information exchange and sharing of ideas related to the use of information and communication technologies. https://www.fao.org
The production of vegetables is one response to the changing diets and challenges enforced on the food supply that rapid urbanization has caused. Challenges to the production of vegetables include concerns related to: polluted irrigation systems such as the use of wastewater, wastewater treatments, other risk factors or sources of pathogens, limited access to piped water, and a lack of cool transport and storage (Drechsel et al., 2008).
Drechsel et al. (2008) identified capacity building in policy awareness, with an aim to change professional attitudes and develop analytical problem-solving which was followed by a phase of monitoring and evaluation focused on receptivity, mood and behavioural changes.
Feedback from this capacity building initiative indicated that more basic problems such as a lack of electricity and significant cash flow problems added to a low level of motivation to engage in the training (Drechsel et al., 2008). Suggestions to increase motivation through developing local commitment included a better understanding of individual priorities and how those align with institutional priorities constraints and capacities (Obuobie et al., 2016).
When technological innovations are suggested, assumptions may be made about the technologies available to address them and the human and natural resources assumed present and of which are required to apply those technologies. Several challenging and diverse aspects to Agriculture Sustainability contribute to impediments of the progress of e-Agriculture for rural farmers in Asia and Africa. Institutional determinants that affect smallholder farmers include gender relations, markets, standards, income distribution, land titling and systems of governance (Struik et al., 2014).
While agricultural policies have been identified as a major challenge, the poverty levels for many rural farmers in Asia and Africa have also been noted as contributing to the unsustainable manner in which natural resources are used. Despite the importance of agriculture to the economy of these rural areas, natural ecosystems are degrading due to the unsustainable manner in which resources are being used (Banson et al., 2016).
Criticisms of both traditional methods of research and sustainability have suggested holistic approaches and capacity building offer a way to improve and raise efficacy of the agriculture industry (Banson et al., 2016).
This project therefore is relying on holistic approaches and capacity building to improve University of Victoria efficacy with sustainable food products and recipes. In this way, University of Victoria is meeting the UN Development Goals and target 3 of the Climate and Sustainability Action Plan.
References
Banson, K. E., Nguyen, N. C., & Bosch, O. J. (2016). Systemic management to address the challenges facing the performance of agriculture in Africa: case study in Ghana. Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 33(4), 544-574.
https://doi.org/10.1002/sres.2372
Chisenga, J. (2008). The e-Agriculture Initiative: Achieving the MDGs through sharing of innovative experiences. In 18th SCECSAL Conference Location. Lusaka, Zambia. July. https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783598441257/pdf#page=57
Drechsel, P., Cofie, O. O., Van Veenhuizen, R., & Larbi, T. O. (2008). Linking research, capacity building, and policy dialogue in support of informal irrigation in urban West Africa. Irrigation and Drainage: The journal of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage, 57(3), 268-278.
https://doi.org/10.1002/ird.430
Fao.org. Dashboard-old | Global Livestock Environmental Assessment Model (GLEAM) | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (n.d.). Retrieved January 15, 2023, from https://www.fao.org/gleam/dashboard-old/en/
Foodandagricultureorganization.shinyapps.io. (n.d.). Retrieved January 15, 2023, from https://foodandagricultureorganization.shinyapps.io/GLEAMV3_Public/
Obuobie, E., Keraita, B., Danso, G., Amoah, P., Cofie, O. O., Raschid-Sally, L., & Drechsel, P. (2006). Irrigated urban vegetable production in Ghana: characteristics, benefits and risks (No. 613-2016-40758). https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/137958/files/Irrigated_Urban_Vegetable_Production_in_Ghana.pdf
Struik, P. C., Klerkx, L., & Hounkonnou, D. (2014). Unravelling institutional determinants affecting change in agriculture in West Africa. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, 12(3), 370-382. https://doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2014.909642
Cultivated meat is an alternative to conventional meat. It is produced from in vitro cell cultures and does not rely on the raising of animals therefore offering environmental benefits (Rosenfeld & Tomiyama, 2022). Two of the most notable benefits of cultivated meat are reduced water and fewer greenhouse gas emissions (Rosenfeld & Tomiyama, 2022).
Cultivated meat is a product of cellular agriculture produced using tissue-engineering technology where the muscle cells of animals are cultured in a bio-reactor independent from the animal (Ruzgys & Pickering, 2020) .
By comparison, fermentation-based cellular agriculture does not use any tissue from a living animal, and has typically been genetically modified through the addition of recombinant DNA (Ruzgys & Pickering, 2020).
Participants are invited to volunteer to participate in the research study by clicking on the link below to provide anonymous survey data stored on Survey Monkey.
Survey – Would you eat a burger made in a petri dish?
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LYX7C77
Please note by completing the survey questions you are consenting to participate in research. Responses to the survey will not be able to be withdrawn after submitted to Survey Monkey.
January 2023, UVic Undergraduate Student Campus Survey
Tony Heesterman, Executive Chef at University of Victoria believes using cultured meat in recipes is a more sustainable and more humane approach but that it is still many years before cultivated meat is available from Canadian companies.
“The first step for us would be testing and tasting them in our recipes”
Tony Heesterman, Executive Chef, University of Victoria
References
Rosenfeld, D. L., & Tomiyama, A. J. (2022). Would you eat a burger made in a petri dish? Why people feel disgusted by cultured meat. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 80, 101758. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2022.101758
Ruzgys, S., & Pickering, G. J. (2020). Perceptions of cultured meat among youth and messaging strategies. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 4, 122. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2020.00122
In 2021, a University of Victoria Climate Challenge produced the DefaultVeg Initiative Report from Holly Cecil and Nicole Fetterly of the Faculty of Law https://www.uvic.ca/sustainability/assets/docs/default-veg_report_2021.pdf. You can also view this document under “Innovation” in the Menu Bar.
In 2022, University of Victoria committed to a Climate and Sustainability Action Plan set to be achieved by 2030, inspiring others to lead the way globally in environmental, social and institutional sustainability.
Three targets have been identified :
According to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (2015) emissions reduction from the livestock sector can be achieved by reducing production and consumption. Larner et al. (2021) and others postulate
References
Camilleri, A. R., Larrick, R. P., Hossain, S., & Patino-Echeverri, D. (2019). Consumers underestimate the emissions associated with food but are aided by labels. Nature Climate Change, 9(1), 53-58. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-018-0354-z
Fao.org. Dashboard-old | Global Livestock Environmental Assessment Model (GLEAM) | Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (n.d.). Retrieved January 15, 2023, from https://www.fao.org/gleam/dashboard-old/en/
Foodandagricultureorganization.shinyapps.io. (n.d.). Retrieved January 15, 2023, from https://foodandagricultureorganization.shinyapps.io/GLEAMV3_Public/
Kaljonen, M., Salo, M., Lyytimäki, J., & Furman, E. (2020). From isolated labels and nudges to sustained tinkering: assessing long-term changes in sustainable eating at a lunch restaurant. British Food Journal. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/BFJ-10-2019-0816/full/html
Larner, E., Fish, A. L., Way, C. H., Graham, F., Armstrong, B., Patel, V., … & Reynolds, C. J. (2021). Reaction to a low-carbon footprint food logo and other sustainable diet promotions in a UK University’s Student Union ‘Living Lab’.
https://kobra.uni-kassel.de/handle/123456789/12593#
Reynolds, C. J., Buckley, J. D., Weinstein, P., & Boland, J. (2014). Are the dietary guidelines for meat, fat, fruit and vegetable consumption appropriate for environmental sustainability? A review of the literature. Nutrients, 6(6), 2251-2265. https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/6/6/2251
Rust, N. A., Ridding, L., Ward, C., Clark, B., Kehoe, L., Dora, M., … & West, N. (2020). How to transition to reduced-meat diets that benefit people and the planet. Science of the Total Environment, 718, 137208. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004896972030718X
