News livestock farming
Kipster founder also finds a mission at Dier&Recht
Dier&Recht, recently in the news with the banned poster stating that dairy causes 'serious animal suffering', has a special director: Olivier Wegloop. He has been on the board of this action group for a year, but is also co-founder of poultry company Kipster.
Dier&Recht sees livestock farming as the exploitation of animals and conducts, among other things: campaign against drinking milk† The action group was founded by Hans Baaij van Varkens in Nood, among others.
Wegloop itself also acknowledges that it is a special construction and sensitive. Because there is a tension. "I am not against animal husbandry or against the use of animal products. I am also not a vegan. But the livestock farming systems as they currently exist cannot be kept indefinitely and must be different and better. That was also my motivation to participate in Kipster."
That was in 2013. Last year, Wegloop was asked by Hans Baaij of Dier&Recht to take a seat on the board. Runaway doesn't see that as incompatible. "They asked me at Dier&Recht whether I could live with the attitude and actions of the organization. I said yes, but asked in return whether they could live with a poultry farmer in their midst."
Lack of knowledge
Wegloop's vision on animal husbandry also makes it possible for him to participate in a dairy or pig farm, he says. The condition is that the animals are kept in a natural way, with calves, for example, that stay with the cow. Or pigs that are kept in a natural way, such as veterinarians and livestock farmers Kees Schepens that does.
What particularly bothers Wegloop in animal husbandry are the circumstances of the animals, which often leave something to be desired and the lack of knowledge of those circumstances among consumers. "Animals are living beings, with instincts, feelings and desires. The system is designed in such a way that there is insufficient space to provide for this. This is certainly not due to the farmer, but to an excessive system that also hinders the farmer. ."
Daily practice
In order to contribute to the legal position of animals, he joined the board of Dier&Recht. "I understand that farmers feel offended by the campaign against drinking milk. Yet it is important that people know how animals are kept and what the daily practice is. We should not hide that. It is also the reason that we at Kipster make films about it, sometimes resulting in fierce reactions, for example when it comes to killing our chickens and roosters. Dier&Recht because of the system that has to change. Dier&Recht does want to campaign against this in a decent way. Not with hard actions. Then I wouldn't have participated."
'Chicken Man' Zanders
The use of Wegloop at Dier&Recht is known to Ruud Zanders, Kipster's 'chicken man' and most important manager of the company. He wants to feed the chickens in the Kipster formula exclusively with selected residual flows and thinks that this will enable him to achieve a 50% lower CO2 footprint than competing systems. Zanders says that this is based on scientific research by the Wageningen University Imke de Boer.
Zanders has no problem with the dual function of his colleague, he says. "In the end, the question is whether you really want to do something with animals." Although Zanders is walking around with this question, he does not intend to stick to 2 Kipster locations. "Certainly not."
Klaas van der Horst
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