- ComMEATted Our Meetings -
Our Meetings
Webinar link: https://univ-nantes-fr.zoom.us/j/84371166048?pwd=CL0IX8vbPyj86ujB7CUOngPtSg83Vz.1
Protein science plays a central role in shaping nutrition policies and food markets in Europe: while it offers innovative pathways for diversifying protein sources and reducing meat consumption, it can also reinforce the cultural centrality of meat — the so-called "meatification" of Western diets.
Drawing on the ComMEATted project, this presentation combines a multi-site analysis of scientific literature and policy documents across nine European countries with 15 semi-structured interviews with researchers from the natural and social sciences.
The findings reveal protein science as an ambivalent force: a potential facilitator of dietary change, but also a source of "protein washing," reductionist framings of food, and commercially driven innovation, with meat analogues emerging as ambiguous transition tools. The study argues that protein science can support just food systems only as part of inclusive, culturally sensitive, and policy-aware transitions.
The speakers:
Dr. Silvia Coutinho is a researcher in nutrition and obesity at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). She has a PhD in clinical medicine from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at NTNU. Her main research activity focuses on public health nutrition, food sustainability, diet-related health inequalities, and urban food environments. Since April 2024 she has been part of the ComMEATted project - Committed to the responsible development of meat replacement products and practices: comparing multidimensional barriers and potentials in European countries (funded under the 2023 FOODRETEC/JPI HDHL call).
Dr. Melis Aras is a postdoctoral researcher at the DCS Laboratory (CNRS UMR 6297), Nantes Université, and an associate researcher at the SAGE Laboratory (CNRS UMR 7363), Université de Strasbourg. She holds a PhD in Environmental Law (The right to environmental information in relation to industrial risks). Her research adopts a socio-legal and interdisciplinary approach to environmental governance, focusing on the right to a healthy environment, socio-ecological and digital transitions, citizen participation, and science–law interfaces. She has contributed to several European and international research initiatives on renewable energy transitions, environmental governance, and sustainable food systems. https://www.univ-nantes.fr/melis-aras
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The WP4 workshop will be held in Vienna and online on 12th June 2026, 10.00 am- 4.00 pm.
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The WP2 synthesis meeting will be held online on 4th June 2026 from 10.00 to 12.00 am.
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ComMEATted WP3 Workshop, 13th March 2026, all day (approx. 9:30-17:00 Paris time), Law Faculty, Nantes University, « Salle du Conseil » & Online
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Webinars with the Members of the Advisory Board:
- Wednesday 9th July 2025, 11.30 am (Paris time)-1.00 pm
Jean-François Hocquette, presenting his article: Food culture and cell-culture: technical, ethical and social frontiers
[co-written By Sghaier Chriki1, 2*; William Hallman3; Jean-François Hocquette2; Marie-Pierre Ellies-Oury2, 4; Masami Takeuchi5
1 Isara, 23 rue Jean Baldassini, 69364 Lyon, France
2 INRAE, Université d’Auvergne, Vetagro Sup, UMR Herbivores, 63122 Saint Genès Champanelle, France
3 Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, United States
4 Bordeaux Science Agro, 33175 Gradignan, France
5 Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rome, Italy
*Corresponding author: schriki@isara.fr];
- Tuesday 7th October 2025: 14.00-15.30, (Paris time), Andrea Borghini
"Whose Meat? Philosophical recipes for ontological negotiations"
- Monday 12th January 2026, 11:00 to 12:30 CET, Laura Gasco, Professor of Zooculture, Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Science, University of Turin, on , presenting her research.
"Bite the Bug: Are We Ready for Insects?"
- Friday 27th February 2026, from 11:00 to 12:30 - Barbara Franco Lucas, Food Scientist at Bern University of Applied Sciences
“Towards sustainable eating: Consumers' attitudes and perceptions towards microalgae-based food.”
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Feedback from the design x marketing challenge "support the protein transition"Workshop with l'Ecole de Design Nantes Atlantique, Save the date, 12 november 2025
Between September and November 2025, a design x marketing challenge will be organised as part of the ComMEATted project. It will take the form of a workshop between students from the Food Design Lab at the Ecole de Design Nantes Atlantique and students from the Marketing Masters at IAE Nantes (Nantes University).
Based on speculative/fictional design and the study of consumer behaviour, mixed (design/marketing) teams will reflect on and produce prototypes to support the protein transition (production, processing, consumption, value-adding). 3 teams for 3 topics: insects, plant proteins, cellular meat.
The feedback will be shared on 12 November 2025 from 9am to 12pm, both face-to-face at the Ecole de Design Nantes Atlantique and remotely.
/// Entre Septembre et Novembre 2025, un challenge design x marketing sera organisé dans le cadre du projet ComMEATted. Il aura lieu sous forme d'un workshop entre les étudiants du Food Design Lab de l'Ecole de Design Nantes Atlantique et les étudiants du Master Marketing de l'IAE Nantes (Nantes Université).
A partir du design spéculatif / fiction et de l'étude du comportement des consommateurs, des équipes mixtes (design / marketing) réfléchiront et produiront des prototypes pour accompagner la transition protéique (production, transformation, consommation, valorisation). 3 équipes pour 3 thèmes : insectes, protéines végétales, viande cellulaire.
La restitution aura lieu le 12 novembre 2025 de 9h à 12h en présentiel à l'Ecole de Design Nantes Atlantique et en distanciel.
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The press release Teagasc has issued about the event "ComMEATted Project seminar 7-8 April 2025", 8 April 2025.
A group of international scientists met in Dublin this week, to discuss the possible future role of meat alternatives in European diets. The meeting was held as part of an EU research project known as ComMEATted, which examines the conditions under which consumers may consider introducing more meat alternatives into their diets.
To access the press release Teagasc: https://www.teagasc.ie/news--events/news/2025/meat-alternatives.php
A group of international scientists in Dublin, discussing the possible future role of meat alternatives in European diets.
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Monday 7th April and Tuesday 8th April 2025, Dublin
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Wednesday 18th December all day, online (approx. 9.00-17.30, Paris time)
Program
9:00-09:45 Controversies and controversial markets: definitions, sociological issues, and European perspectives. Sandrine BARREY (Senior Lecturer, LISST, Univ. Toulouse)
09:45-10:30 The ‘fed-er’ concept: rethinking the ‘eater’ as shaped and constrained by the food system”. Sophia EFSTATHIOU (Senior Researcher, NTNU, Trondheim)
10:30-10:45 Coffee break
10:45-11:30 The concept of “living being” linked to Animals, meat and its representations. Stéphanie MORANDEAU (CNRS Engineer, DCS, Univ. Nantes)
11:30-12:15 Green Gap concept and the SHIFT model applied to insect
consumption by adolescents. Céline GALLEN (Senior Lecturer, Univ. Nantes)
12:15-13:30 Lunch break
13:30-14:15 Social practice theory: towards an understanding of dietary transitions in the context of meat alternatives. John DEELY (Research Officer, Teagasc)
14:15-15:00 Applying Brunswik’s lens model to consumer judgments of meat replacement products: Perception, cues, and decision-making. Ines RÖHRLE (Researcher assistant, Univ. Vienna)
15:00-15:15 Coffee break
15:15-16:00 The Causal Network Model: A methodological exploration of economic, social, ethical, and environmental drivers in the adoption of meat replacers in Romania. Ruxandra Malina PETRESCU-MAG (Associate Professor, PhD, Univ. Babeș-Bolyai)
16:00-17:30 Discussion with the Advisory Board members.
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Kick off meeting, 12th April 2024 (Tertre Castle - Nantes)
Program
Committed to the Responsible development of meat replacement products and practices: comparing Multidimensional barriers and potentials in European countries
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- ComMEATted Project -
elisabeth.lambert@cnrs.fr
Webmaster:
katia.barragan@univ-nantes.fr