Exploring Flexitarianism: Meat Reduction in a Meat-Centred Food Culture

Broad scholarly consensus exists nowadays that high meat consumption is particularly critical from an ecological perspective. Traditionally, technological progress and efficiency innovations in food supply processes are identified as key to solving food sustainability problems. However, it is increasingly recognised that technological innovation and efficiency gains alone are not enough to reduce the environmental impacts of growing meat production and consumption. Therefore, this chapter's point of view is consumption-oriented. Are consumers part of the solution by making transitions towards more sustainable consumption patterns in general and less meat-centric diets specifically? This chapter explores flexitarianism as a present-day food style that consists of different forms or levels, ranging from minor adjustments to regular meat consumption patterns to fundamental departure from habitual meat eating practices.