Title: Perverse visibilities? Foregrounding non-human animals in ‘ethical’ and ‘sustainable’ meat consumption.

Abstract

The invisibility of meat production operations and their associated non-human animals is commonly understood as a causal factor in the use of non-human animals as food. This paper critically explores this assumption using empirical evidence from a study of producers and consumers of ‘ethical’ and ‘sustainable’ meat in Melbourne, Australia. Rather than challenging meat consumption, I find that increased visibility of non-human animals and their ‘processing’ resettles consumers in ‘improved’ practices of meat consumption. Identifying a failure to address the underlying and persistent normalisation of non-human animals as food, I argue that advocacy and dietary campaigns need to mount a more profound challenge to the status quo regarding both meat and non-human animals.