Video from group 082

Welcome to the webpage of group 082

The topic we have decided to explore is the following :
Let's understand the problematic of global meats production. What are the environment impacts of global meats production ?

Our paper

The world's population will continue to grow, but it may be a plateau in 9 billion about the middle of this century. Sustainable expert from a well know agri food company told us that " Since the end of the war, 1950 years (The glorious Thirty) in Europe, there has been A significant growth of the consumption of animals' protein. Effetively, countries such as Argentina, USA have records in terms of consumption of meats per inhabitant. This worldwide issue is that this diet is curently spreading over emerging countries as China, India. Forecast shows that it would be impossible to feed 7 billions of inhabitants with a diet like in Europe. If you analyse nutritional needs, you can observe that we are capable of eating and hae a equilibrate diet of protein without overconsumming" Due to the fact that the world population will continue to grow for several more decades and that the rise of real incomes will lead to the purchase of more expensive foods and higher quantity of meat we need to be aware of the impacts of this consumption.

At the same time, food producers are experiencing big competition for land, water, energy and the need to control many of the negative impact of food production on the environment is becoming more and more obvious.

Negative impacts are :

• Gas emissions: The methane gas, caused by livestock production, contributes to the atmosphere change. The threats to the greenhouse gas emission from all the livestock production around the world is much more than from transportation.

• Land degradation: There is around 30% of living land using for raising livestock. (Lamy, Van Harten, Sales-Baptista, Guerra and de Almeida, 2012).The heavy burden left by livestock on these soils left the soil surface is considered the major cause of land degradation in the area. (Khresat, Rawajfih and Mohammad, 1998). Because of increasing demand for livestock, farmers use intensive chemical fertilizer, which in turn became the basic causes of ground water quality

• Animal maltreatment: The production has evolved to become mass production without any respect of animal kind. Many associations denounce the way to produce meat and the ways that animal are treated. For example pigs are lock in depot, never see the sunlight and live twice time less than before and their weigh has double.

How can we develop sustainable production ?

There are some Alternative proteins already existing which allow a more responsible and respectful consumption :

• Vegetarian Meat: It’s made by soy products, but the taste and textures are exactly the same as real meat.
• Vegetable proteins : Few vegetables contain protein that can remplace meat's protein.
• Artificial meats : William Van Allen is a Dutch doctor,since the 1950s ,he has invested research artificial meat, he is one of the earliest researchers in this area.In 1999 he applied to the stem cell meat production technology patents, and spent five years to persuade the Dutch government to fund his research:Artificial meat could start a food revolution

• Edible insects : They have rich protein and other nutrients, and their production process is more ecological than meat’s. The nutritional content of insects are protein, essential amino acids, fat, fatty acids, trace elements of the most common food insects are summarized.
  

Those alternatives will bring possible solution for a decreasing of the consumption of animal meats. The expert we interviewed underline the fact that stopping consumming meats would be an extreme reaction; we can still consume meat but we a more responsible way ; by reducing the consumption and use alternatives.

Insects alternative has high opportunities because it can promote food security and is part of the solution protein shortages, given its high nutritional value, low greenhouse gas emissions, land and water resources demand is low, high efficiency and feed into food.

However, Insects as food in the western countries, is limited on the market at present, and the lack of regulation of insects as food , are the main obstacle to further development. The biggest opportunity, however, could be the insect biomass as raw material to produce animal and fish, partly replace increasingly expensive protein compound feed livestock.

Moreover, during the process of food production, a large quantity of wastes, both solids and liquids are produced. However, improvement can be made; these wastes can be converted into useful products like a by-product, raw material for other industries or food by recycling. Clean production strategy is now using in manufacturing technology in order to help reduce waste, optimize the use of resources and improve the production efficiency.

There are three industrial waste management techniques now:

• Source reduction via in-plant modification,
• Waste recovery/recycle or waste treatment by detoxifying,
• Neutralizing or destroying the undesirable compounds.

Why sustainable?

• Cost saving
• Resource limitations
• New revenue opportunities
• Brand reputation
  

Sustainability as firm' strategy main goal ?

It is important to recall what is a sustainable business model. A business model is a way to organize in order to create more value; it is a synthetic representation of the future profitability and viability of a company. More precisely now, a sustainable business model must be commercially efficacious; it has to fit with de customers need. Then, a sustainable business model is a projection on the future. This model can succeed in a particular situation, not if there are suddenly changes in the economy. Last, sustainable business model must be created in a sustainable environment. It must exist an economy turned to social progress and respect of the environment.

Investing in sustainability will allow company to gain competitive advantage toward their competitors which will face issues at a moment. The reputation of the company is also important because customers can boycott brands.

Sustainable marketing involves the development and promotion of products and services, which meet the needs of the consumers and business users using social nature, human and responsibly and cultural resources, in order to ensure a better quality of life of present and future generations. (Sustainable Business Cases, Ross Gitte, Unnamed Publisher) The world can produce more food, but need to ensure more effective and fair. This requires various global strategy, in order to ensure sustainable and equitable food security.

When we asked your expert about the importance of sustainability in firm strategy, he responds us "It depends on the businesses, and the sensibility of people, but our industry is aware of the impacts and know that without real investments we are condeemed to a lake of raw materials for our production and with time to not be able to continue our activities. We are depedant to raw material from agriculture."

With the development of sustainable strategies by firm, the world would produce more food and could ensure a more efficiently and equitably production. Meat's production would go along with sustainable development which can be define as " Meeting the need of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own need" Harlem Brundland.