Paper Short Abstract:

In order to create a more sustainable agricultural future, politics, industry and science are currently pushing the generation of knowledge about so-called alternative protein production. However, agricultural practitioners themselves remain largely excluded from this process, which in turn ties in with the problems of past hierarchical processes of agrarian development, in which farmers were primarily seen as recipients of knowledge.

Paper Abstract:

Current forms of intensified livestock farming are associated with numerous ecological, climatic and animal-ethical problems. A central challenge with regard to a change towards more sustainability and environmental relief within existing agricultural systems lies in the knowledge-based development of strategies for a more resource-efficient form of protein production. The planning of strategic decisions towards so-called alternative forms of protein production, such as in-vitro meat, insects, algae, legumes or mushrooms, is therefore now of great relevance and is largely driven by scientific and industrial research alliances. In this context, generating knowledge is being conducted at full speed on biotechnological solutions as well as on the economic and legal aspects of potential applications, while the opportunities and potential of these developments for existing agriculture itself have so far been barely examined. This approach, in turn, ties in with hierarchical processes of agrarian development that primarily view agricultural practitioners as recipients of knowledge. On the basis of current discourses on alternative protein production, the paper shows how scientific research associations and start-ups market themselves in superlatives for not needing farms or soil anymore to cultivate future food, while within large sections of agriculture this development is seen as a threat. In order to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past in the development of processes for more sustainable protein production, the article argues for a critical unwriting of hierarchical power dynamics in agricultural knowledge production and a much stronger and equal inclusion of farmers themselves to address questions about their future.