Research Assistant: Exploring Consumer Attitudes toward Lab-Grown Meat in Contrast to Farm-Grown Meat

Introduction to the topic:

The rise of cultured meat as a sustainable alternative offers a promising solution to some of the biggest challenges in global food production. Cultured meat, also known as lab-grown or cell-based meat, is produced by cultivating animal cells—like cells from pigs—in a controlled lab environment. It is biologically identical to conventional pork from the livestock industry and has been approved by the FDA since 2022.

The livestock industry is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases in food production, the largest consumer of freshwater, and a leading contributor to biodiversity loss and disruptions in nitrogen and phosphorus cycles. By transitioning from traditional livestock farming to cultured meat production—envisioned as “meat breweries”—the aim is to reduce these challenges including the ethical concerns associated with farming and slaughterhouses.

However, addressing these challenges requires not only technological innovation but also shifts in consumer behavior. Consumers play a key role in driving change, but their decision-making is complex, influenced by moral and ethical considerations, financial priorities, and personal food preferences.

Project details:

This research project aims to explore Danish consumers attitude toward cultured meat as sustainable meat alternatives. Research Assistants will contribute by gathering data through interviews and analyzing it using thematic coding.

The data collected will assess:

• Danish consumers’ attitudes toward cultivated meat, including diverse groups across geographical, demographic, and socioeconomic levels.
• Ethical considerations related to current meat production and cultivated meat.
• Consumers’ perceptions of healthy and sustainable animal protein sources.
• Consumers’ sense of responsibility in addressing climate change.

The data will be compared with existing literature on sustainable transitions, food security, and climate change solutions. They will enhance our understanding of consumer attitudes toward cultured foods and provide anthropological insights into consumer sensemaking and readiness for a sustainable transition.

The project will extend over several semesters where each term will be structured around specific tasks, ensuring that you gain in-depth knowledge of the subject and develop research skills tailored to the objectives of that term.

Selected relevant publications:

• Padilha, L. G. de O., Malek, L., & Umberger, W. J. (2022). Consumers’ attitudes towards lab-grown meat, conventionally raised meat and plant-based protein alternatives. Food Quality and Preference, 99, 104573. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2022.104573
• Hoff-Jørgensen, C., & Leer, J. (2022). Rethinking restaurant queueing design: The example of Noma’s post-Covid-19 burger pop-up. Gastronomy and Tourism, 7(1), 51–67. https://doi.org/10.3727/216929722X16354101932195
• Leer, J., & Hoff-Jørgensen, C. (2023). Consumers’ attitudes to gourmet burgers: The case of the NOMA cheeseburger. British Food Journal, 125(5), 1753–1768. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-04-2022-0323

Recommended experience

Experience in courses pertaining to anthropology, sustainability, and/or environmental studies will be helpful for Research Assistants.

Faculty

Camilla Hoff-Jørgensen

Faculty

Camilla Hoff-Jørgensen holds a BA in Nutrition and Health (2006) and a BA and cand.scient in Anthropology (2012). She worked as a cultural consultant in Japan concerning Danish and Scandinavian food culture and developing comparative studies of the Danish (European) and Japanese food culture. Moreover, she has international working experience in Bangkok and Barcelona. Camilla has done various research within the fields of medical anthropology and anthropology of food. As medical anthropologist, she has worked with harm reduction strategies for homeless and other at-risk populations. As an anthropologist with a background in food culture she has been a food study consultant and tought various food culture courses. Camilla is currently working on an experience design study covering restaurant NOMAs reaction to COVID19.

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