International comparisons, domestic influences and where to next? The case of Irish meat consumption.

Meat consumption internationally is driven by many common factors. While this broadly results in similar temporal trends, diversity in how these factors play out locally is evident. Drawing on secondary data sources, this paper illustrates this by comparing Irish meat consumption with other geographies. It illuminates the differential impact of significant shocks, e.g. the BSE crises, and socio-cultural factors on consumption. With increased attention on sustainability, how motivations relating to health, the environment and animal welfare will influence consumption is likely to vary across countries. Questions arise as to how strategies such as "less but better" will evolve, with available options including changing production parameters, producing meat-blended products, premiumisation and meat reduction. Given that the demand for meat stems as much from its traditional role in cultural practices as it does from satisfying individual needs, the extent to which consumer needs are being met by current offerings will change as the position held by meat in society changes.

Full Inversion Tillage (FIT) during pasture renewal as a potential management strategy for enhanced carbon sequestration and storage in Irish grassland soils.

It has been suggested that the sequestration of CO2 by agricultural soils offers a means to reduce atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations and in turn mitigate the impacts of climate change. Carbon sequestration by grassland soils, which account for more than 60% of agricultural land use in Ireland, could contribute to a successful net reduction of atmospheric GHG emissions in accordance with the COP21 Paris Agreement. However, current estimates of soil carbon sequestration are variable and it is likely that many permanent grasslands are close to saturation. A literature search shows that soil carbon sequestration is enhanced by a variety of different management strategies, although one option that has only been examined to date in New Zealand is full inversion tillage (FIT) during grassland renovation. FIT involves inverting topsoil, generally to depths of 30 cm, resulting in the movement of C-deficient subsoil to the surface and the burying of carbon-rich topsoil. In this review, we hypothesise that over the next ~30 years the new topsoil could incorporate large amounts of soil organic carbon (SOC) from the re-seeded sward vegetation and that the buried carbon will be retained. We assess the current capability of Irish grassland soils to sequester carbon and suggest a potential role of FIT during grassland renovation. An analysis of the distribution of grasslands in Ireland using the Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) suggests that ~26% of Ireland's agricultural grasslands are suitable for FIT.

Animal food products: policy, market and social issues and their influence on demand and supply of meat.

The present paper aims to contribute to the contentious debate regarding the role of meat as part of a sustainable diet. It uses secondary data to examine the patterns of meat consumption across the globe, and drawing on academic and grey literature, it outlines some of the policy, market and social trends and issues influencing demand and supply of meat. It also presents an overview of the scientific evidence base regarding the pros and cons of meat consumption. The results show that consumption patterns are not homogeneous globally, nor across meat types, with overall meat consumption increasing strongly in developing countries but stagnating in developed countries, and demand for poultry increasing in most regions in contrast to beef. They also illustrate the evolving impact of factors such as income on consumption and the increasing impact of non-economic factors, such as social and policy influences relating to health and the environment, on food choice behaviours, to the extent that such behaviours are increasingly entering a moral space. Given the solid scientific evidence that simultaneously substantiates arguments to increase and decrease meat consumption, it is clear that dietary recommendations need to be context-specific. An important part of the context is the strategies being pursued by researchers and supply chain actors, from farmers through to processors, retailers and food service operators, to improve the sustainability credentials of livestock production. As new evidence emerges from such initiatives, the context will change which means that dietary guidelines will require continuous review.

Underestimating neonicotinoid exposure: how extent and magnitude may be affected by land-use change.

Potential detrimental impacts of neonicotinoids on non-target organisms, especially bees, have been subject to a wide debate and the subsequent ban of three neonicotinoids by the EU. While recent research has fortified concerns regarding the effects of neonicotinoids on ecosystem service (ES) providers, potential impacts have been considered negligible in systems with a relatively small proportion of arable land and thus lower the use of these pesticides. In this paper we argue that there is not sufficient information to assess magnitude and extent of neonicotinoid application, as well as potential non-target impacts on ES providers in grass-dominated systems with frequent land-use change. Using Ireland as an example, we show that the highly dynamic agricultural landscape, in conjunction with estimated persistence times of neonicotinoids in soils, may lead to a much larger area (18.6 ± 0.6% of the Irish agricultural area) exposed to these pesticides than initially assumed. Furthermore we present a number of important gaps in current research regarding the impacts of neonicotinoids on ES providers in such systems.