Beef or Beet Wellington? Chefs, meat reduction, and hindering and supportive forms of craftsmanship

One of the most effective ways to mitigate climate change is to shift to more plant-based consumption practices. In this context, hands-on professionals in the food sector such as chefs are often seen as change-makers. Yet, most restaurants in wealthier countries predominantly serve meat and fish. In this paper, we use chefs and their embodied relationship with food as a case, and combine theories of practice and craftsmanship, to better understand the potential roles, both supportive and hindering, of craftsmanship in the protein transition. Drawing on 23 semi-structured interviews with a diverse mix of executive head chefs of Dutch restaurants in terms of menu type (animal/plant ratio), sector (fine dining/regular), and geographical location (city/rural), we found a reciprocal relationship between agentic capacity of animal- and plant-based materials and embodied skill. Based on this relationship, we found two forms of craftsmanship that relate differently to the protein transition. We argue that a “classical” form, in which a strong embodied relationship with animal- and a weaker one with plant-based materials is embedded, hinders a protein shift in chefs’ practice. We highlight the important role of culinary education in strengthening the relationship with plant-based materials and defining plant-based cooking as a prestigious challenge.