HDHL ECN webinar: Nutrition science for just, sustainable food systems
Protein science plays a central role in shaping nutrition policies and food markets in Europe: while it offers innovative pathways for diversifying protein sources and reducing meat consumption, it can also reinforce the cultural centrality of meat — the so-called "meatification" of Western diets.
Drawing on the ComMEATted project, this presentation combines a multi-site analysis of scientific literature and policy documents across 9 European countries with 15 semi-structured interviews with researchers from the natural and social sciences.
The findings reveal protein science as an ambivalent force: a potential facilitator of dietary change, but also a source of "protein washing," reductionist framings of food, and commercially driven innovation, with meat analogues emerging as ambiguous transition tools. The study argues that protein science can support just food systems only as part of inclusive, culturally sensitive, and policy-aware transitions.
Speakers
Dr. Silvia Coutinho is a researcher in nutrition and obesity at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). She has a PhD in clinical medicine from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at NTNU. Her main research activity focuses on public health nutrition, food sustainability, diet-related health inequalities, and urban food environments. Since April 2024 she has been part of the ComMEATted project - Committed to the responsible development of meat replacement products and practices: comparing multidimensional barriers and potentials in European countries (funded under the 2023 FOODRETEC/JPI HDHL call).
Dr. Melis Aras is a postdoctoral researcher at the DCS Laboratory (CNRS UMR 6297), Nantes Université, and an associate researcher at the SAGE Laboratory (CNRS UMR 7363), Université de Strasbourg. She holds a PhD in Environmental Law (The right to environmental information in relation to industrial risks). Her research adopts a socio-legal and interdisciplinary approach to environmental governance, focusing on the right to a healthy environment, socio-ecological and digital transitions, citizen participation, and science–law interfaces. She has contributed to several European and international research initiatives on renewable energy transitions, environmental governance, and sustainable food systems.
