Lunchtime Seminar – 19 June – Enkhbat Sainbayar

Introducing the Mongolian Meat Standard: What can Mongolia teach the world about meat production? 

Enkhbat Sainbayar (MIASU, University of Cambridge)

As global demand for meat increases, so, too, do anxieties about the way animals are raised and exploited in industrialised meat production systems. Questions of ethics, sustainability, health, and climate impact make meat a highly valued but ambiguous foodstuff. This paper asks what Mongolia might offer a world plagued with meat production issues and ever-homogenising tastes. Instead of looking to meet foreign standards—as meat and livestock producers in Mongolia are generally encouraged to—this paper flips the script to imagine a world where Mongolia leads the way in setting the standard for ethical and sustainable meat production. In this reimagining, the Mongolian Meat Standard becomes the certification that meat producers around the world aspire to attain.