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A rebalanced discussion of the roles of livestock in society

Nature Food volume 4, pages 926–927 (2023)Cite this article

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The many roles of animals in modern agriculture and food systems have come under considerable scrutiny in the context of sustainability. A recent Correspondence1 presented The Dublin Declaration of scientists, outlining the societal roles of meat, as well as the key messages aimed to rebalance contemporary debates on the role of meat and livestock (first presented in a special issue on the same topic that accompanied the Declaration). Yet, the Correspondence contains unsubstantiated generalizations and statements that go beyond the focus of the Declaration, particularly regarding the expansion of livestock production.

The authors aimed to provide a comprehensive interdisciplinary assessment of the current evidence in the field. However, we believe that they overlooked or downplayed research demonstrating the incompatibility of current and projected levels of consumption of animal products with the imperatives of bringing humanity’s economy within the planetary biophysical limits, that is, making it sustainable. If humanity accepts the use of other sentient beings for food and other purposes, meat as such is neither good nor bad. Yet, the current production and consumption of meat and other animal-derived foods in current quantities and qualities compromise the state of the environment, societal prosperity and stability, human and animal health and welfare, and epidemiological safety, thereby reducing overall societal well-being through accumulated negative externalities2,3.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the following funders: Research Council of Finland (350649 to I.H., R.M., M.T. and K.K.; 350650 to M.K. and A.L.; 352639 to T.K.); Strategic Research Council of Finland (352638) to M.K.; Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Finland (VN/10451/2022) to M.N.; and The Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental Research Mistra, through Mistra Food Futures (DIA 2018/24 no. 8) to H.H., M.J. and R.M.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Irina Herzon, Rachel Mazac & Hanna L. Tuomisto

  2. University of Helsinki, Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science, Helsinki, Finland

    Irina Herzon, Rachel Mazac & Hanna L. Tuomisto

  3. Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

    Rachel Mazac & Malin Jonell

  4. Department of Food and Nutrition, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Maijaliisa Erkkola & Anne-Maria Pajari

  5. Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Tara Garnett

  6. Department of Economics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden

    Helena Hansson

  7. Finnish Environment Institute, Helsinki, Finland

    Minna Kaljonen, Annika Lonkila & Marjaana Toivonen

  8. Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland

    Teea Kortetmäki

  9. Global Economic Dynamics and the Biosphere, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden

    Malin Jonell

  10. Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden

    Malin Jonell

  11. Department of Economics and Management, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Mari Niva

  12. Centre for Development and Environment, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Theresa Tribaldos

  13. Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Helsinki, Finland

    Hanna L. Tuomisto

  14. Ruralia Institute, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Kari Koppelmäki

  15. Department of Energy and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Science, Uppsala, Sweden

    Elin Röös

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  1. Irina Herzon
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  2. Rachel Mazac
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  16. Elin Röös
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Irina Herzon.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Herzon, I., Mazac, R., Erkkola, M. et al. A rebalanced discussion of the roles of livestock in society. Nat Food 4, 926–927 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-023-00866-y

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