‘Less but better’ is a pragmatic approach to tackling the sustainability challenges of meat consumption and production. Definitions of ‘less’ and ‘better’ lack clarity. Here we explore interpretations of these concepts, finding increasing use of ‘less but better’ in the literature from Western, high-income settings. Despite discrepancies among interpretations of ‘less’ meat, existing quantifications indicate that significant reduction is needed to achieve desirable food system outcomes. Interpretations of ‘better’ meat incorporate the delivery of environmental sustainability, improved animal welfare and better health or nutrition, but lack clear principles and omit many sustainability themes. Practices and outcomes are seldom linked, and diverging narratives on interactions between ‘less’ and ‘better’ exist. A shared vision of livestock systems with improved sustainability across multiple indicators is needed to establish principles for ‘less but better’ in order for decision-making to deliver desired outcomes.

“少而精”是应对肉类消费和生产可持续性挑战的务实方法。“更少”和“更好”的定义不够明确。在这里，我们探索对这些概念的解释，发现西方高收入环境的文献中越来越多地使用“更少但更好”。尽管对“减少”肉类的解释存在差异，但现有的量化表明需要大幅减少才能实现理想的食品系统结果。对“更好”肉类的解释包括提供环境可持续性、改善动物福利和改善健康或营养，但缺乏明确的原则并忽略了许多可持续性主题。实践和结果很少联系在一起，并且存在关于“更少”和“更好”之间相互作用的不同叙述。