At last night’s glittering Museums + Heritage Awards ceremony, LEAP and the Oxford Museum of Natural History were over the moon to win the 2022 Partnership of the Year Award for Meat the Future: A partnership to feed minds and bodies.
The exhibition presents the latest research on the environmental and health impacts of eating meat, and provokes discussion and dialogue. Visitors encounter familiar scenes: a butcher’s shop window, a bistro interior, a supermarket ready meal aisle. They are asked to contemplate what others think of meat-eating, see the different levels of meat consumption in different countries, and experience the selling tactics of retailers that entice us to buy more of certain types of foods.
The exhibition presents a range of alternatives to the way we eat now, from simply eating less meat to adopting high-tech alternatives. It has now been extended to June 2022.
Initially conceived to give visitors food for thought about how the production and consumption of animal products affect people and the planet, the exhibition sits alongside the Eat the Future café, run by Vaults and Gardens. There visitors are offered informed food choices thanks to a pioneering ecolabels system, developed by LEAP scientists and based on their research. The menu is largely vegetarian and vegan and uses locally sourced, sustainable foods, which is a new approach to the Museum’s food offering.
Lucy Yates, Public Engagement Coordinator for LEAP said: “I’m so delighted by this. Thank you to the judges and to our scientists at LEAP who contributed their research and time and to the amazing team at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History who created this exhibition.