Environmental, ethical, and animal defense reasons have led to a rise in the consumption
of plant-based meat alternatives. The marketing of these products, however, can reinforce
speciesist tropes. While attempts to sell animal products are often oriented at hiding the origin of
the meal from the consumer through the ‘absent referent’, I explore what I call the ‘overt referent’:
the commodification of the consumption, characteristics, and consent of nonhuman animals to sell
plant-based meat ...
Environmental, ethical, and animal defense reasons have led to a rise in the consumption
of plant-based meat alternatives. The marketing of these products, however, can reinforce
speciesist tropes. While attempts to sell animal products are often oriented at hiding the origin of
the meal from the consumer through the ‘absent referent’, I explore what I call the ‘overt referent’:
the commodification of the consumption, characteristics, and consent of nonhuman animals to sell
plant-based meat alternatives. The paper attempts to lay the theoretical basis of speciesism and
expand on the theory of the overt referent through a case study of plant-based meat producer The
Vegetarian Butcher. Conclusions include strong evidence for the existence of the overt referent
and feedback on the theory is given by the coiner of the ‘absent referent’ theory Carol J. Adams.
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