A governance framework to manage the food-environment-livelihood trilemma of alternative proteins

Global food systems are closely interconnected with contemporary challenges such as food security, environmental crises, and inclusive development. Protein production, in particular, is strongly associated with these issues, as the resource-intensive predominant production models can lead to environmental pressures and food inequity. Alternative proteins (APs) have been proposed as part of the solution to meeting future global protein demand while keeping modes of production and consumption within planetary boundaries. Here, we stress that the potential of APs to address this crucial food-environment-livelihoods trilemma hinges on collective social choices made early in the sociotechnical transition. We therefore call for a managed and socially embedded transition in which public agents together with civil society and private actors work to ensure balanced outcomes, with global and domestic food inequities in mind. Our emphasis on AP adoption as an open-ended process highlights the underlying political economy of food systems transitions and technological development.