Route plan for climate-neutral meat production

The Central Organisation for the Meat Sector (COV) wants to join other European organisations in contributing to further sustainability in meat and meat products production. This was demonstrated during a roundtable with the vice-president of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans. The central themes were animal welfare, sustainability and trade. A roadmap is needed for climate-neutral meat production, and there is a need for a standard for calculating the CO2 footprint of meat products. This will allow Dutch consumers to make a choice for meat or meat variants based on objective criteria. The sector is under pressure and that means that you have to be transparent in all areas.  

Sustainable food transition is one of the pillars within the Farm to Fork strategy of the European Commission. From farm to fork and all links in the meat chain will have to participate. The stakeholder dialogue of the COV Meat Café on 9 December was also dedicated to sustainability. It was about sustainable labour relations, where the sector largely depends on migrant workers. Their position needs to be improved and everyone agrees on that. Fortunately, there are more and more local initiatives in which companies, together with municipalities, seek solutions for better housing closer to the company. Sustainable development and employability, as well as the application of robotisation are necessary and form important ingredients for a sustainable meat sector in the Netherlands and Europe.