'Dutch meat sector should be less defensive'

The meeting marked the newly appointed COV Chairman Manon Houben. She is the first female chairwoman of the club and is emphatically profiling herself as a market expert, although she is trained as a veterinarian. In recent years, Houben has been active as Program Manager Chain Concepts at Van Loon Group and she says that is where she learned that the demand side is decisive. She was enthusiastic about the position because she is impressed by the Dutch meat chain. She hopes to prevent our country from becoming dependent on foreign countries. Her speech was limited to an introduction round, she will certainly share her substantive vision later. 

The focus was on the keynote speaker who looked back on the past and tried to draw lessons from it. Twenty years ago, he was present at COV events as a then minister. He decided to reflect on the developments of the past two decades.

Image is tilted
Ferryman acknowledges that the way in which agriculture is viewed has changed considerably. Shortly after the war, the government decided, under the motto 'never again hunger', to vigorously stimulate agricultural production. "Wageningen University and the product boards played an increasingly important role in this, with an emphasis on technical solutions. Prosperity grew rapidly, and there was a strong sense of entrepreneurship. In the nineties, however, that image began to change. Critical stories about livestock farming appeared more and more often in the media. This changed public opinion. Agriculture was less and less in line with the perception of many citizens and there was growing scepticism regarding purely technical solutions", Veerman outlines. 

According to him, the changed way of looking at agriculture and nature can no longer be reversed. He believes that attempts by parties to change this attitude among the public are of little use. "Where man in the Western world was traditionally seen as the master of nature, that vision is now under pressure, especially in urban areas. The question is increasingly being asked whether man has the right to kill animals or to manipulate nature. You can explain to people that it is efficient if animals produce more meat with less feed, but many people find the reality of modern food production difficult to tolerate." According to Veerman, concerns about the climate are also not a fad and the manure problem cannot be 'lobbyed away', since this discussion has been going on for forty years.

To engage in conversation
The clashing visions are increasingly experienced, the former minister notes. In politics, too, proponents and opponents are increasingly opposed to each other. In recent years, this trend has gone into overdrive. According to Veerman, D66 MP Tjeerd de Groot has definitely ruined the debate by advocating halving the livestock population. "Since then, people with different views have hardly been able to talk to each other."

According to Veerman, this is the core of the problem. He therefore calls on the meat sector to enter into discussions with all parties involved. "More mutual cooperation is needed within the sector, however commercially difficult that may sometimes be." In addition, the sector must let go of its defensive attitude, enter into discussions with NGOs and openly share mutual ambitions and concerns. "That will not be easy and in the short term will probably yield little more than tough, sticky discussions. Nevertheless, this approach is the only way to regain some control over the future of the sector." Veerman sees opportunities: according to him, the Better Life quality mark shows that cooperation is indeed possible.