How do plant-based meat and cell-cultured meat come into existence in personal foodscapes? A qualitative exploration

Novel alternative meat products, such as plant-based meat and cell-cultured meat, can offer more sustainable alternatives to meat which help to mitigate the environmental impacts of current meat consumption. However, they remain marginal parts of everyday diets and awareness for most people, and it remains unclear how exactly alternative meats could become more common place. Combining the foodscapes framework and theory of social representations, we explored qualitatively how alternative meats may “come into existence” within personal foodscapes. We conducted 41 semi-structured in-depth interviews supported by visual methods to examine how participants make sense of alternative meat, and where they would imagine alternative meat to exist within their everyday food environment. Across three Meta-Themes and six Sub-Themes, we found that alternative meat was strongly anchored within the conceptualisation and materiality of meat (Food and Meaning), the physical and socio-cultural spaces where meat is consumed (Food and Space), and the habits and justification for eating meat (Food and Self). We conclude that meat continues to be a dominant anchor for alternative meat with many expressing views that reflect the desirability of: (i) the replication of meat in terms of sensory and functional characteristics (e.g., taste, texture, cooking properties) and cognitive perception and sense-making (e.g., meanings of culture, tradition, and faith); and (ii) the integration of alternative meat within existing physical and socio-cultural contexts of meat consumption. We further discuss the challenges and opportunities underlying the anchoring of alternative meat within foodscapes, as well as the implications for producers and policymakers aiming to foster a more sustainable dietary transition.