Meat the Future
June 2023 – May 2024
From a bacon sandwich to a roast dinner, a lamb curry to a pepperoni pizza, our diet in the UK revolves around meat. But what is the environmental cost of having meat on the menu?
Meat The Future presented cutting-edge research on the environmental impacts of animal agriculture.
Across the world, 90% of people are meat-eaters – and global consumption is rising. Is our appetite for meat a necessity, or just a matter of taste? What’s the evidence that meat production is adding to our environmental crisis? If we eat less meat, what happens to all the people the industry employs? And our landscape, shaped by farming?
Visitors were able to explore the past, present and future of producing meat, learn about contemporary issues and get the bigger picture. From fascinating facts such as the typical weekly meat intake of different countries to the rise of alternative proteins such as insects. Provoking much thought and feedback!
You can still try out Meat Your Persona – an interactive quiz which will challenge you to reflect on how your own food choices are shaped by health, ethics, society and personal values. Visitors were also invited to take away a recipe card or make a pledge for the future.
The exhibition heard from campaigners and scientists, alongside farmers and butchers. Through the Food Museum’s collection, visitors were able to explore the cultural history of meat-eating and farming. Visitors encountered a butcher’s cart and objects familiar from a traditional butcher’s shop and explored how our eating and buying habits have changed and how they might change again in the future.
Tasters and demonstrations
In our demonstration kitchen we showcased recipes and cuisines from around the world that use alternative proteins, edible insects and local sustainable produce.
Meat the Future was produced in partnership with the Oxford University Museum of Natural History and Oxford University’s Livestock Environment and People (LEAP) research programme, generously funded by the Wellcome Trust.
