What’s Cooking: Frontiers of Food

An executive summary by the Stockholm Environment Institute assessing the environmental, health, and social impacts of novel meat and dairy alternatives compared to conventional animal source foods (ASF).

• Food systems contribute approximately 30% of current anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions globally, with animal products accounting for nearly 60% of those food-related emissions, totaling between 14.5% and 20% of all global emissions.
• Conventional animal source foods (ASF) contribute to climate change, biodiversity loss, soil degradation, and pollution, while high consumption of red and processed meats is linked to non-communicable diseases. ASF production is also associated with antimicrobial resistance, zoonotic diseases, and animal welfare issues.
• Novel alternatives, including fermentation-derived foods, cultivated meat, and plant-based meat, may reduce environmental impacts, animal welfare concerns, and risks of antimicrobial resistance and zoonoses. Their adoption depends on regulation, cost, taste, and cultural acceptability, and requires further research into nutritional and socioeconomic implications.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2023). What’s Cooking: Frontiers of Food. https://www.sei.org/publications/unep-whats-cooking-frontiers-2023/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. What’s Cooking: Frontiers of Food. 2023. https://www.sei.org/publications/unep-whats-cooking-frontiers-2023/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=What’s Cooking: Frontiers of Food |date=8 December 2023 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/unep-whats-cooking-frontiers-2023/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2023whats, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{What’s Cooking: Frontiers of Food}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2023}, month = dec, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/unep-whats-cooking-frontiers-2023/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }