By Jorge Chavez-Tafur (with information from the NRC Handelsblad)

A very interesting debate is taking place in the Dutch media these days, after more than one hundred university professors signed a 12-page essay which concluded that there should be less livestock in Dutch farms, and that we should eat less meat and dairy products. Among the reasons for this, the essay states that the Netherlands is the second largest exporter of meat and dairy, and that there are more pigs than people. But the country is far too small to be able to effectively deal with the consequences of the large scale livestock industry behind this, and cannot cope with, for example, the manure surplus. An independent committee recommended several measures back in 2001, but few have been carried out. With new elections due to take place in two weeks, this makes for some very interesting campaign material.

 
According to the NRC Handelsblad, Professor Roos Vonk, the campaign initiator, was disappointed when the current agriculture minister mentioned she could not listen to every protest group. But the minister, Gerda Verburg, has also come up with facts and figures. She mentions that the number of pigs and chicken in Dutch farms has not increased since 2000, that there are new (and strict) rules and regulations which combine animal welfare, health, the economy and the environment, but also that a large pig farm, because of the way it is managed, can have a smaller CO2 footprint than "the romantic small scale farm". According to the Minister, there is a lot to do, but this cannot only be taken by the government. The signing professors have "underestimated the strength of the market in pushing for a more sustainable sector".

More than 12,000 persons and organisations (among them ILEIA) have signed the professors initiative. Interested to join? Read the whole essay (in English) here: http://www.duurzameveetelt.nl/site/docs/sustainable-livestock-farming.pdf