Paper Short Abstract:

This paper discusses the potential of ritual interventions in supporting a transition to more healthy and sustainable food practices. We present the findings of a transdisciplinary research project in which we looked into the place of meat in festive meal traditions. One of the deliverables of the project was an action framework with suggestions how to negotiate the place of meat or reduce the amount of meat in (semi-)private settings. To breach the reproductive association between celebration and meat, we contribute to unwriting meat of the taken for granted at festive occasions.

Paper Abstract:

Meat consumption at its current level is considered a source of serious environmental problems, health risks and animal suffering. However, meat is a central and often highly valued component in many traditions and rituals. Meat is a central and often highly valued component in many traditions and rituals. In such a heritage context, eating meat is often accompanied by a certain habituation and obviousness. The repetitive nature and the lively visual culture surrounding these practices, moreover, reproduce the link between celebration and meat, time and again. This makes it difficult to change.

An important angle of approach of the project was that ritualised behaviour can not only hinder change, but can also accelerate or initiate it. Thus, the focus was on the potential of traditions as catalysts for change. But how does this work in practice? Together with students and researchers from various disciplines, possibilities for change were designed and tested, while taking into account the meanings that participants in such practices attribute to meat (dishes). The outcomes of these interventions provide insight into the meanings, practices and norms to which meat is connected.