Slow Meat: Better, Less

Slow Food believes that the way meat is produced and consumed in the current system is unsustainable, with detrimental effects on the environment, human health, animal welfare and small-scale farmers.

Our solution: eat less and better meat, pay a fair price and always consider the origin, supporting small-scale producers.

Over the past 50 years, global meat consumption has risen dramatically with agriculture subjected to increasing industrialisation.

In the past, animals we kept on grazing land, slaughtered and processed on the farm or nearby. Today this form of production has almost disappeared. The modern industrialised production cycle for meat is driven by two principles: speed and quantity.

This trend that is having devastating repercussions effecting the Environment, Human Health, Animal Welfare, and Farmers.

50 kg of meat – in the UK each person eats, on average, just over this amount every year. This is approximately TWICE the world average.

£2.1 billion worth of meat every year – The estimated amount that UK consumers throw away.

75% – percentage of of agricultural land used to raise animals for food globally.

Over 15,000 litres of water – the amount, on average, required to produce 1 kilogram of beef.

14.5% – percentage of the global total Greenhouse gas emissions the livestock sector is estimated to account for, more than direct emissions from the transport sector.

Eating BETTER MEAT creates:

Improved working environment for producers and quality of life for animals
More complex and delicious flavours
Animal and plant diversity in the field
Healthier local food economies

And eating LESS MEAT creates:

Opportunities to explore the flavours of vegetables, grains, and culinary traditions from many cultures
Resilient ecosystems, less threatened by environmental damage
Frugality and inspiration in the kitchen
Healthier eaters

Without knowing how our food travels from field to fork, we lose sight of the true costs of cheap meat. Worse, as the economic prosperity fades, our appetite for cheap meat grows. We then find ourselves trapped in a culture of confinement.

Slow Food UK champions small-scale farmers, especially those who rear rare breeds as part of Slow Food’s international Ark of Taste programme.

The UK Ark of Taste currently lists many native livestock and poultry breeds. Find out more here.

Find out more about our Slow Meat producers on the menu to the left.

Slow Meat Recipes

Slow Food believes that the way meat is produced and consumed in the current system is unsustainable, with detrimental effects on the environment, human health, animal welfare and small-scale farmers.

Eating BETTER MEAT creates:

And eating LESS MEAT creates:

Slow Meat Recipes

Poultry & Game

Pork

Beef

Lamb and Mutton

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