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English-Nederlands-Espaņol-Deutsch
25
Years from now a majority will be vegetarian |
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| In 25 years time from now, the majority
of the Dutch will have become vegetarians. The Netherlands
will no longer be bulk producer of meat then. Farmers
therefore better take to luxury agricultural produce.
There is also much more money to be earned that way, says
Dirk Boon. |
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Dirk Boon, professor in "Animal &
Law" in Utrecht (Holland) and lawyer in Zuidhorn,
was interviewed by Nico Hylkema for the Dutch newspaper
"Leeuwarder Courant" on July 8, 2003. |
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"We slowly move up. In twenty five
years a majority of us will be vegetarian. The motion
is taking place. Eating meat every day will become something
like grandpa with his cigar and gin. He almost belongs
to the past. Whoever is surprised to hear this, ought
to take a look at the resistance against hunting",
Boon thinks. "The hunter has been made ridiculous
by ways of good communication. He is allowed still to
hunt only a few animals and no-one takes it serious anymore.
It's the same way things went with fur. Who, nowadays,
still dares to cross the street in a fur coat?"
The professor doesn't buy the common remark that the consumer
will in the end let his purse prevail. Boon used to be
employed in the advertising business and is convinced
that it is possible to sell to this consumer a better
type of farming for a higher price. "That is a matter
of communication. There are enough examples. Who would
have thought some decades ago that we would become ashamed
of our smoking habits?" The professor believes
that a good treatment of animals is a matter of emancipation.
"It can be compared with the abolition of slavery.
That too cost a long period of time for us to find out
that black people are no merchandise. But in the end
it worked." |
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Factory
farming in the Netherlands is doomed to die. It cannot
generate sufficient profit and the majority of consumers
will become vegetarian. The contemporary Minister of Agriculture,
Dr. Cees Veerman, demanded an in-depth discussion on industrial
farming. "Things are in motion", is Boon's conclusion.
"They tell me then that so many things have bettered.
But inside a chickenbarn there are still ten
thousands hens. Any animal-scientist can tell that
within a group of hens there is an obvious pecking order
which is given no chance at such numbers of animals. They
have fully lost track of the social context."
And all that for the purpose of a safe and cheap piece
of meat. When things go wrong and an outbrake
takes place of some contagious animal disease, large quantities
of farms and animals have to be "cleared" in
order to regain public and foreign confidence. "In
that respect we fully over-react. We want total safety.
But there is no such thing."
Moreover, economically Boon does not see much point in
pig- and poultry farming. "I turn sick of all those
moaning farmers who during a crisis come and tell us that
their business will be over shortly. Such are bad entrepreneurs
with no meat on their bones."
That economic position forces farmers into a negative
helix, Boon thinks. After every crisis they have to continue
even more rational and with even more animals in order
to make up for the costs. A desperate position. "Better
leave that bulk-production to Poland, and its low production
costs as yet."
"The outcome of that process is Holland as a luxury-production-state.
Considered economically, that's much better. Agrarian
soil now costs an average € 20.000 a hectare. If
you try to make a 10 percent's profit, you depend on luxury
produce."
As an example he mentions the biological, extensive contractor
pig-farms that supply their animals to the butcher. For
instance at a firm price of € 2,50 a kilo. There's
a future in that. "It may not really excite you as
a businessman, but it does bring rest."
The less industrial dairy farm should not feel bullied.
In The Netherlands the countryside with its meadows will
remain dominant. It takes cows to do so, although not
necessarily in massive figures and highly productive.
Professor Boon: "Cows belong outside and do not need
to produce more milk than 7.000 liters yearly. If only
you make that quite clear to consumers, then there surely
is a market for more expensive milk."
And what if shops sell milk for a penny or a dime extra?
Boon participated in an action in the town of Utrecht
and handed out milkpacks at a shopping mall. He questioned
the people after the price of a pack of milk. No-one knew
the precise answer and almost everybody estimated more
than 10 cents up.
"We have morally decayed by those low prices.
Farmers shouldn't accept that. They are being denigrated
so much already. Show that you take good care of your
animals. Have the dairy cows graze on the meadows."
It makes little sense to only aim for animal welfare.
"For a better treatment of animals and the environment,
you need economically strong farmers. You have to do
it together." |
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| Want to know more? We sell books on animal rights, animal welfare, nature and wildlife, factory farming, food politics, the meat industry, antibiotic resistant bacteria, ecological footprint, harmful myths; we offer cruelty free products, DVD's about animals, vegan food, vegan and vegetarian books, etc. |
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