Third edition of National Meat-Free Week

National Meat-Free Week is becoming a household name in the Netherlands

The annual campaign is an initiative of Isabel Boerdam, known for the blog and book De Hippe Vegetariër and de Vegabijbel. Isabel now runs the campaign together with a team from her company Green Food Lab.

Although National Meat-Free Week has only existed since 2018, it is becoming a household name in the Netherlands. According to figures from research agency Blauw, 43% of Dutch people have heard of Meat-Free Week, which amounts to almost 7.5 million people. No fewer than half of the Dutch people who have seen the campaign say they intend to eat less meat in the future.

These figures are supported by the results of a survey conducted among the more than 55,000 participants in National Meat-Free Week 2019. Just over half of the participants (52%) indicated that, six months later, they were still eating structurally less meat as a result of the campaign. National Meat-Free Week can therefore rightly be called a national campaign that genuinely contributes to impactful behavioural change.

Growing awareness of meat consumption

National Meat-Free Week responds to the growing awareness that eating meat every day is no longer in keeping with the times. The significant environmental impact of meat consumption plays an important role in this. The savings that can be achieved in one week underline the importance and relevance of eating a little less meat for one day as part of the Dutch diet.

When you, as an adult, do not eat meat for a week, you save 130 litres of water, the CO2 emissions of driving 75 km by car, and 770 grams of animal meat (half a chicken) in seven days. These savings were calculated using a ‘cradle to end of life’ life-cycle analysis by Blonk Consultants, taking into account the new food consumption survey conducted by the RIVM. The full report can be found here.

Participants will be kept informed through tips and inspiration and will gain access to the digital National Meat-Free Week magazine, which will be published at the beginning of March.