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“The Sustainable Meat Challenge” presents an informed and compelling vision of an ethical and ecologically sound approach to meat production which strongly resonates with Slow Food’s focus on local, seasonal, and artisanal food systems. One of the book’s many strengths is in bringing essential, though sometimes overlooked, stages of the food system to the forefront.
The book’s advocacy for regenerative farming convergences with Slow Food principles, showing how grazing animals contribute to biodiversity and are essential to soil health though fostering ecosystems that support a wide range of life. This is contrasted to the intensive feedlot systems prevalent in industrial agriculture, which degrade the environment and deplete natural resources.
The book highlights the importance of treating animals with respect, ensuring a less stressful and more dignified end to their lives. The case for local abattoirs is clearly related to the practice of humane slaughter and aligns perfectly with Slow Food’s core values. This differs sharply with the industrial practices often associated with intensive meat production. The book’s photography brings us as visually close to aspects of the animals’ life and death as many of us will ever get and helps us witness and consider the life and death of the animal that that we see as food.
“The Sustainable Meat Challenge” is an indispensable volume for the bookshelves of farmers, policy makers, chefs, food buyers, home cooks, food students; anyone interested in learning about practical solutions for producers and buyers alike, while also challenging the dominant paradigm of industrial agriculture.
David Matchett
The book is out now, and available from all good bookstores, as well as online retailers.
