Meat is a food of primary importance. It is however, at least for the last two decades, subjected to numerous attacks and criticisms. Among the main accusations that stand out are its environmental impact and the supposed health problems connected with it.
With the awareness that sustainability in meat is a complex and debated subject, the Sustainable Meat Project wants to identify the key issues, the state of knowledge and the latest trends in scientific and technical guidelines. The intent is to show that production and consumption of meat can be sustainable, both for health and for the environment.
Various kinds of organisations and stakeholders participate to the debate on the production and consumption of meat, each characterised by different purposes: animal welfare organisations and/or environmental groups, research centres, media. In this context, the point of view of meat producers, at least in Italy, has never been inserted, and who feel instead the necessity to join in the debate by providing information, details and objective data that is useful to correct, where necessary, some opinions, which are sometimes prejudiced if not completely incorrect.
From 2012, to achieve this scope, a group of operators in the livestock sector (companies and associations) was organised to support scientific studies that, in a logic of pre-competitive transparency, allowed us to achieve, as well as the publication of this study, the launching of the Sustainable Meat Project and then the Web portals www.www.carnisostenibili.it and www.thesustainablemeat.com
Born from the common purpose of the three main meat industry associations, Assocarni, Assica and Unaitalia, the site aims to cover all topics related to the world of meat: an unprecedented project in Italy, contributing with an instructing and informative approach to a balanced report on health, nutrition and sustainability.
