FRÉDÉRIC LEROY is a professor in food science and (bio)technology at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium. He is the founder of the ALEPH2020 initiative and co-initiated the Dublin Declaration of Scientists on the Societal Role of Livestock. He is a researcher in the domain of food production, processing, and technology, as well as nutrition and 'food studies', and with a particular interest in animal source foods. His list of scientific publications can be found here.
Activities and funding
Leroy is a non-remunerated board member of the Belgian Society for Food Microbiology (president), Belgian Association for Meat Science and Technology (president), and Belgian Nutrition Society. The latter are non-profit academic organisations aiming at the dissemination of scientific information, while operating independently from the livestock industry. Still on a non-remunerated basis, he serves on the Scientific Board of World Farmers' Organization and the FAO/COAG Sub-Committee on Livestock. His research funding is declared in his scientific publications, where relevant, and does largely originate from European, national, and university research funds. Leroy interacts with various food industry groups or companies whenever his expertise or opinion is requested, but - except for travel cost reimbursements - he does not accept speaker fees, honoraria, or other personal income. The views he expresses in relation to the Dublin Declaration or ALEPH2020 are his alone and do not necessarily reflect those of his employer or all aforementioned organizations.
Personal views
Leroy is of the opinion that food systems need substantial and urgent reforms. However, he rejects the notion of a rigid animal/plant division in public, scientific, and policy discourse. His stance is that the most effective configurations result from a well-managed integration of livestock and crop agriculture, rather than attempting to compartmentalize them into two separate categories laden with moral connotations. To do so, Leroy recommends establishing clear boundaries, such as halting deforestation and adhering to pollution thresholds, while providing suitable incentives to eco-friendly practices. Such a production-centred approach aims to avoid placing excessive burdens on individual consumers. In the realm of dietary choices, he upholds the principle of dietary freedom, asserting that individuals should have full autonomy to determine the extent to which their diets lean toward plants or animals. Yet, he cautions against the imposition of overly restrictive diets that risk causing nutrient deficiencies upon dependent populations, including infants and children, or elderly residents of nursing homes. In general, he is critical of some of the prevailing dietary models for being narrow and paternalistic, and for having gone beyond their intended scope. Dietary guidelines frequently adopt a reductionist and nutrient-centric approach and tend to rely on evidence of uncertain reliability. Instead, he advocates an emphasis on the promotion of wholesome dietary patterns with a rich diversity, that are able to ensure full nutritional adequacy. His view also entails a moving away from a corporatized food system centred on ultra-processed convenience foods, which are typically nutritionally harmful and environmentally destructive. Ideally, however, focus in food systems discussions should be on positive messages and 'more of the better', as the key to resilience is in diversity.
