Sustainable Food Consumption: A Mission Almost Impossible Because of the West

Introduction

The meaning of sustainable food consumption should derive from the most commonly used Brundtland 1987 definition of sustainable development: “the development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (WCED, 1987, p. 16). Hence the meat we consume today should not compromise food for present and future people. There are however vast differences in the food we eat depending on culture and place and nowhere are these as evident as in relation to meat consumption.

Table 1 shows a comparison between countries based on FAO data. Bangladesh is the nation with the lowest meat consumption of 4.1 kg per person per year. The people of this country maintain a very low individual meat intake because of the prevalence of traditional culture which encourages plant-based meals. Influential spiritual leaders, such as the mystic Baul philosophers recognized by UNESCO (2008) as part of the intangible heritage of humanity, consume zero meat. This traditional culture however is being eroded with the processes of globalization and the increasing influence of the West, including western style meat-rich diets.