Blair Kirsty Joanna, Moran Dominic, Alexander Peter
Global Academy of Agriculture and Food Security, The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush Campus, Midlothian, EH25 9RG UK.
School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, Drummond Street, EH25 9RG Edinburgh, UK.
Agric Human Values. 2024;41(1):91-108. doi: 10.1007/s10460-023-10469-9. Epub 2023 Jun 7.
The livestock sector is under increasing pressure to respond to numerous sustainability and health challenges related to the production and consumption of livestock products. However, political and market barriers and conflicting worldviews and values across the environmental, socio-economic and political domains have led to considerable sector inertia, and government inaction. The processes that lead to the formulation of perspectives in this space, and that shape action (or inaction), are currently under-researched. This paper presents results of a mixed methods exploration of the influence of environmental worldviews, values, and demographic factors on perspectives towards the future of the livestock sector. The approach combines survey and interview data derived from a sample of livestock representatives (N = 307). Respondents with higher pro-environmental, ecocentric and relational worldviews and values favour more behaviour-oriented solutions. Those with lower pro-environmental and higher techno-centric worldviews and values favour technological solutions to improve the efficiency of production and to enable continued patterns of meat consumption. Demographic variation and qualitative data emphasise the need to recognise cultural and geographic nuance in narratives. This study improves our understanding of the processes that lead to the formulation of perspectives, enabling the development of more holistic solutions that acknowledge all voices in an increasingly polarised debate. Adopting more pluralistic, relational methodologies will therefore be paramount in developing solutions for sustainable livestock futures.
畜牧业面临着越来越大的压力，需要应对与畜产品生产和消费相关的众多可持续性和健康挑战。然而，政治和市场壁垒以及环境、社会经济和政治领域相互冲突的世界观和价值观导致了该行业的严重惰性以及政府的不作为。目前，对于在这一领域形成观点并塑造行动（或不作为）的过程研究不足。本文展示了一项混合方法探索的结果，该探索研究了环境世界观、价值观和人口因素对畜牧业未来观点的影响。该方法结合了从畜牧代表样本（N = 307）中获取的调查和访谈数据。具有较高亲环境、生态中心和关系型世界观及价值观的受访者更倾向于以行为为导向的解决方案。而亲环境程度较低且技术中心型世界观及价值观较高的受访者则倾向于采用技术解决方案来提高生产效率并维持肉类消费模式。人口差异和定性数据强调了在叙述中认识文化和地理细微差别的必要性。这项研究增进了我们对形成观点过程的理解，有助于制定更全面的解决方案，在日益两极分化的辩论中兼顾各方声音。因此，采用更具多元性、关系型的方法对于为可持续畜牧业未来制定解决方案至关重要。
