Larger companies are able to exert market influence by redefining sustainability while their environmental footprints remain large, such as from emissions and land use, while more than 90% of salmon’s environmental impact comes from its feed, much of which is imported from far-flung countries. Salmon farming has significantly lower carbon emissions than most landbased livestock products, and there have been some improvements, such as reducing marine oil in feed and cutting antibiotic use, but the overall environmental impact of large-scale farming remains substantial, largely because of the need to produce feeds from fish and plants at scale. Sustainability labels often gloss over these complexities, creating a disconnect between perception and reality. Growth in demand will only lead to the sector having an increasing share of the environmental footprint for the UK food system – it is not the perfect solution to reducing food consumption’s footprint. BROADER MARKETS Shifting towards affordable, healthy and sustainable diets requires people to eat different products. Aquatic foods are one route to enhance nutrition and reduce environmental footprints of what goes on our plates. But even in the UK, a high-income, salmon-producing country, seafood consumption is below recommended levels, suggesting farmed salmon has not addressed dietary gaps. 60% of adults consumed aquatic foods between 2008 and 2018. Farmed salmon is now at the top of that list, but it remains well below the likes of chicken and beef in terms of quantities consumed. Consumers have responded to an increasing supply by changing their aquatic food preferences towards farmed salmon – its consumption is replacing other aquatic foods rather than other products. This matters because many of these aquatic alternatives are cheaper, equally nutritious, and often have lower environmental impacts. Demand has been shaped through purposeful market-making by producers and retailers, underpinned by narratives of widespread appeal, nutritional value, and sustainability. Farmed salmon’s rise is a story of innovation and marketing. It shows how food systems can be shaped by what people are offered, how it is packaged, and who controls the supply. The same market-making tools can be used to promote a wider range of aquatic foods, such as farmed mussels or seaweed and wild herring and mackerel – the former two rarely eaten and with lower environmental impact, and latter two otherwise destined mostly for export. This would make healthy seafood more accessible, result in more affordable and sustainable products, add resilience to the food supply system, and help reduce environmental footprints. Dr Josi Fernandes is a Lecturer in Marketing whose research interests take in the (re)organisation of markets for the creation of more ethical and responsible markets, connected with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Dr James Robinson is a Royal Society University Research Fellow in Lancaster Environment Centre. The paper The hidden roles of marketmaking in the rise of farmed salmon is published in the journal Environmental Research Letters. j.fernandes@lancaster.ac.uk; james.robinson@lancaster.ac.uk Listen to Josi discussing the salmon farming research on the Transforming Tomorrow podcast: https://pod.fo/e/25ad6b trAnsfoRming toMorrow FIFTY FOUR DEGREES | 37
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTI5NzM=