Meat the addiction: please make us stop!
As Dutch consumers we want to be thoughtful when it comes to effecting the environment. We pay attention to animal-friendly, biological and plant-based food. Our awareness about the effects of food production grew largly over the years. The trend of being a thoughtful and health-oriented consumer is fantastic. Still we are ignoring the biggest problem of our consumption: meat. Our steaks and meatballs are the largest pollutant on earth. We are addicted to meat. The government should step up and change our behaviour right now.
Why don’t we act? The government has to change its behaviour when it comes to meat consumption. Our awareness about the effects of food production to the environment grows, but we keep buying meat as if it’s not a part of the problem. The reason is that the government acts like it isn’t. It makes us drive less cars and use sun-based energy to reduce CO2 emissions, but changing our cattle industry is not a priority.
The prices of meat are still low and every supermarket provides it. How will consumers ever change if they don’t feel the urgency? The Dutch government should make consumers aware of the problem. Real change is possible by forcing them to eat less meat. This means it will have to put more attention to this problem first.
Our lack of knowledge makes us believe the wrong things about water use and CO2 emissions. Most consumers don’t know that eating meat is more harmful than driving a car. In fact we drive 140 billion car kilometers a year, just by eating meat. Meat consumption also forms about 92% of our water use.
While the authorities tell us to use less water in the bathroom, this is 60 times less harmful than eating a pound of beaf. Beef requires 1.847 gallons of water a pound, but a bathtub only holds 30 gallons. Stopping meat consumption would be more beneficial than cutting off all cars or bath-use. We have to face the truth before it’s too late. The government should change the consumer perspective on CO2 emissions and water use.
Alarming facts We are literally killing our earth by eating this much meat. The forecasts are alarming. In the book ‘Meat, the Future’ from 2015, scientiests brought shocking facts that should have moved us to change right away. For example, our food availability in 2050 will not be enough if we keep eating the same amount of meat. Unfortunally, not much has changed since then. The possibilities are endless, but without collective awareness it will be too late soon. Action is required right now.
The Netherlands form a large part of the problem. We hold the most cattle in Europe: 70 billion kilograms of fertilizer. That is 4000 kiligrams per person! We eat more meat than is good for our health. Our meat consumption is 45% higher than the Voedingscentrum advises. We also eat 2.2 times as much meat as the average world citizen. The problem is getting worse. Our meat consumtion grew largely over the decades. Due to the increasing wealth, the expectation is that it will only keep growing.
The government can make a difference Consumers are willing to change their behaviour if the government helps them. Research from 2015 proves this. In the week before the governments assemble in Paris to agree a global climate deal, two organisations looked at consumers willingness to change their consumption. They found that people world wide are prepared for radical change in their consumption of meat as long as governments give a clear lead.
Previous action already shows that the Dutch government can make a change. Take a look at the tax on plastic bags that was introduced in 2016. This caused a huge change in the use of plastic. Our awareness grew once we had to pay €0,10 for each plastic bag. The Netherlands should take this example to change meat consumption.
We could take America as an example. In January 2015, the America’s club of food authorities came with a new advise to eat less meat. This advise implies that people should eat as much fruit and vegetables as possible. Next to the healthiness of these products, they are the most sustainable type of food. It produces little CO2 and uses less water. For example, one steak requires 4500 litres of water, and an apple only needs 70 litre.
The effects of this new advise in America are huge. The Netherlands could also make a change if the authorities face this problem openly. If the Netherlands would follow America’s example, this would at least mean a decrease of 8 to 28 % of CO2 according to the Dutch food advisers. The change would be even bigger if there was a new law to make us eat less meat. It is a chance we have to use.
Take responsibility The change can start today if we speak up as consumers. Our knowledge about environmental issues has grown over the past years. Unfortunately our behaviour won’t change fast enough if there are no short-term consequences to what we do. Buying and consuming meat is too tempting and too easy right now.
The Dutch government is willing to take responsibility to improve our environment, but the focus has to shift. A change of law will change our behaviour. The road will be hard, but in the end we will save our own earth. It’s time to take responsibility for our own weakness and come up with a petition to make sure the subject will end up on the political agenda.