scientific journal “Animal Frontiers” has published the studies that collect the best currently available scientific evidence on the main considerations related to meat consumption, including its positive impact on human nutrition and health, environmental sustainability, economic affordability and ethical justification. These analyzes originate from the “International Summit on the Societal Role of Meat”, which took place in October 2022 in Dublin, with the participation of numerous scientists and experts from around the world in the different scientific disciplines related to livestock and the meat.
At this meeting, the so-called “Dublin Declaration” (www.dublin-declaration.org) was launched, signed so far by a thousand scientists from around the world (10% Spanish), which establishes that livestock systems they must advance based on scientific criteria of the highest quality. These systems are too valuable to society to be the object of simplification, reductionism or fanaticism. These systems must continue to be part of our society, from which they have broad support. For this reason, the scientific community has been asked to provide reliable evidence of its benefit in nutrition and health, its sustainability, and its sociocultural and economic relevance; as well as offering solutions for the numerous improvements that are needed.
The last paragraph of this Dublin Declaration is taken from the text of the final documentation of the 2021 United Nations Food System Summit on Sustainable Livestock, which states: “Human civilization has been built on livestock since the dawn of the Bronze Age, more than 5,000 years ago, being the pillar of food security in modern societies. Livestock farming has proven to be an effective method for creating healthy diets and safe lifestyles for millennia, based on wisdom that is deeply rooted in cultural values in every corner of the globe. Sustainable livestock farming will also provide solutions for the new challenges of the moment: staying within the safe production limits of planet Earth, the only Earth we have.”
Learn about the Dublin Declaration, written by scientists, about the role of livestock in society: The Dublin Declaration of Scientists on the Societal Role of Livestock (2023) ENG (3)