Lecture: Why You Still Eat Meat - Navigating the Meat Paradox

The Department of Sociology welcome Professors Josée Johnston and Shyon Baumann from University of Toronto, to give their speech on the paradox of meat consumption despite environmental awareness. All researchers are welcome to join this seminar at the Department of Sociology, City Campus.

Title: 
Why You Still Eat Meat: Navigating the Happy Meat Paradox

Abstract:
Despite growing awareness of the environmental, ethical, and health consequences of meat consumption, meat consumption patterns remain remarkably stable across North America and in most of Europe. This reflects what scholars have called the "meat paradox" - the contradiction between people's concerns about animal welfare and their continued meat consumption.

Building on past research on the meat paradox but bringing into view contemporary concerns about industrialized animal agriculture, our research reveals that most meat consumers harbor significant reservations about meat production yet maintain their dietary practices. The emergence of "ethical" or "happy meat" represents a discourse that attempts to stitch together this paradox with various combinations of happy animals, sustainable agriculture, grass-fed animals, and small family farmers.

Our research examines how "happy meat" functions within contemporary food culture, exploring how eaters navigate food choices involving complex moral, informational, emotional, and practical considerations alongside routinized, habitual behaviors. While psychologists have documented the psychological maneuvers individuals use to rationalize meat consumption, our sociological perspective illuminates how these choices are embedded within broader social contexts.

Drawing on analysis of survey and interview data with both consumers and producers, we elucidate the social forces shaping how people contemplate, justify, and ultimately make choices about meat consumption amid widespread critique and the promise of ethical alternatives. This research contributes to understanding how social dynamics sustain paradoxical consumption patterns in the contemporary foodscape and offers insight into the cultural politics of ethical meat eating.

About the authors:
Josée Johnston is professor of sociology at the University of Toronto. She specializes in the study of food consumption and food systems. Shyon Baumann is a professor of sociology at the University of Toronto who specializes in the study of cultural consumption. Together, they are coauthors of Foodies: Democracy and Distinction in the Gourmet Foodscape (Routledge) and they are coauthors, with Emily Huddart and Merin Oleschuk, of the forthcoming book Happy Meat: The Sadness and Joy of a Paradoxical Idea (Stanford University Press).