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Why the Heat about Meat?

Who stands to gain from all the fury?

Why do we get so angry when we talk about food? When conversation turns to meat in particular, it doesn’t take long for debate to become heated and emotive. Voices get louder. Insults are hurled. Death threats are issued.

Earlier this month, a group of UK scientists suggested a tax on red and processed meat would save thousands of lives. The discussion that followed quickly changed from being scientific and factual, to personal. It’s not the first food debate to have turned ugly - and in this episode Emily Thomas sets out to ask why.

What is it about meat that gets us so mad? How are conversations around what we eat manipulated for political and personal gain? And if we understood more about science, would debate around diet be less vulnerable to hijack?

Contributors: Dr Marco Springmann, researcher at the Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Food; Chris Snowden, head of Lifestyle Economics at The Institute of Economic Affairs; Dr Catherine Happer, Lecturer in Sociology at Glasgow University; and Sarah Boseley, Health Editor of The Guardian.

(Picture: Sausage on fork, Credit: Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ)

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27 minutes

Last on

Sun 2 Dec 2018 08:32GMT

Broadcasts

  • Thu 29 Nov 2018 03:32GMT
  • Thu 29 Nov 2018 05:32GMT
  • Thu 29 Nov 2018 11:32GMT
  • Thu 29 Nov 2018 18:32GMT
  • Thu 29 Nov 2018 21:32GMT
  • Thu 29 Nov 2018 23:32GMT
  • Sun 2 Dec 2018 08:32GMT

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