Meat consumption is rising in the Netherlands
The Dutch have increased their meat consumption for the second year in a row in 2019, reaching to 39 kg per person, according to a study conducted by Wageningen Economic research for animal welfare organisation Wakker Dier. However, some of the experts involved in the research are sure that the increase of almost 0.50 kg in meat consumption is predominantly down to tourists and occasional meat-eaters or flexitarians who go to restaurants and fast-food outlets.
"It looks as if the flexitarians do their best at home but forget their good intentions when they go out," commented Wageningen researcher Hans Dagevos, quoted by the Dutch News website. "
Chicken is the main driver of last year’s increase and the Dutch now eat an estimated 200 million chickens a year. "This is a very worrying trend at a time when every problem we face requires less meat consumption, from climate change to nitrogen emissions, deforestation, the effects on health and last but not least the treatment of the animals themselves," said Anne Hilhorst from Wakker Dier.
Dagevos and his colleagues expect that next year’s figures will clarify the extent of the effect on meat consumption from tourists and flexitarians, seeing that many restaurants have had to close their doors in 2020 because of coronavirus. ‘If meat consumption outside the home is the determining factor we should perhaps focus more on helping flexitarians,’ Hilhorst said. The official recommendation in the Netherlands is to eat no more than of 500 grams of red meat a week.
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