Bernd Carpenter

Farmers in the Netherlands are doing well. A great year, but for the animals it was just a disastrous year like any other. The income of most agricultural entrepreneurs has improved. A farmer earns an average of 78,000 euros, which is no less than 16,000 more than last year. Piglet and laying hen farmers are particularly good farmers. Is this good news for the animals? For some, because not all animals are equal in this Kingdom. All farmers have the same good income, but can it also be improved by leaps and bounds in the stables?

During a debate, Prime Minister Balkenende spoke the historic words of a mentality that we are in danger of losing. ”I don’t understand why you are being so negative and annoying about this. (…) Let’s be happy with each other! Let us be optimistic! Let’s say: the Netherlands can do it again! That VOC mentality, looking beyond borders, dynamism! Nevertheless? ”, he was scorned.

For it was now the century of the renaissance of the white blame game. How could you argue with dry eyes that there had to be more VOC mentality with all the dark downsides that exist?

The national conscience is now well aware of the guilt that the Netherlands bore during the slavery period in history. Crimes, injustice, suffering and immoral behaviour in whatever form can and must be named in order to clean up the mess. But within historical times and realities.

That may be where the shoe pinches when it comes to keeping animals in livestock farming. Does the Dutchman know what happened to his meat and fish when they were still alive? Buying food is stripped of the suffering animal’s face. Pigs, chickens and all living things look cheerful in the pictures that are supposed to entice us consumers to consume.

Animals can be called the slaves of modern times. They are factory workers who have to produce themselves, at a rapid pace because everything on your plate is usually a young animal.
Most animals have not yet completed the first year when they go to slaughter.

Between 450 and 550 million animals end up on the carnivore’s plate. That comes out to between 26 and 34 animals per person. That’s quite a slaughter for animals.

The animals grow far too fast to yield the kilos, there is insufficient opportunity for the species-specific behaviour of animals, usually no fresh air, insufficient exercise, a high stocking rate, with a lot of stress, pain and fear, also with a lot of ”dropout” (animals that drop dead, more than 5% is very normal) and then finally go outside in the car on the way to the death of the white coats and then in a container in a supermarket to end up.

With a population growth worldwide, there are more and more animals to fill mouths. The VOC mentality in the livestock industry is good. There is a beautiful commercial spirit, entrepreneurial spirit, decisiveness, innovation and, thank God, most of them still go over corpses to increase prosperity.

This leads to mega barns that the Netherlands also wants to export as well as possible to other countries to feed people. Inspiration from the past to create new crimes that later generations will be ashamed of. Mega barns are needed for the plofkipeters, milk prolets, and battery munchers.

Not all animals are created equal, those in intensive livestock farming are unlucky and those in a mega barn suffer the greatest fate. All together on a miserable heap of misfortune: the lower limit for a mega barn is 7,500 fattening pigs, 1,200 breeding pigs, 120,000 laying hens, 220,000 broilers, 250 dairy cows or 2,500 veal calves. And there are always more.

But fortunately, there are also animals that are a little more alike. That is the positive side of the mind of entrepreneurs who understand that things can and must be done differently. The key is not just with the farmers.

Fortunately, Animal Protection and Wakker Dier recognize that the suffering of more than 500 million animals every year does not change just by shouting “Go Vegan” and demonstrating with 20 people in front of a company. There are 50,000 vegans in this country (optimistic estimate), 700,000 vegetarians and the rest eat meat out of the population of 17 million.

And what about the farmers? Most of them do want to change and are not at all shadows of VOC traders. After the Second World War, livestock farming went haywire. Meat and prosperity are linked. Everyone has a dead piece of animal on the plate and between the sandwich more than three times a day. Within a capitalist system where animals are just commodities and supermarkets want to buy cheaply. Or rather, wanted to buy.

Because in addition to the trend of mega barns, we also see positive developments.
Imagine if there were only evil innovations and China, Brazil, India, South Africa and all of Africa and Asia, you name it,
would make the mistake of eating meat that the West has already made. Already, 150 billion animals are killed every year in a runaway immoral production process. But there is also good news.

In various countries, more and more, by making compromises, legislation for animals is finally being introduced (or better). Because again, eating meat is a cultural, historical, and future reality right now. 7 billion and soon 10 or 15 billion people will not become vegetarians in 1 day, 1 week, 1 year or 100 years. Let alone vegan. That is an illusion of sad and furious people about animal suffering, who have lost their minds and have proceeded to pointlessly shout that things have to change, without giving solutions.

In addition to the mega barns and the laws for animal welfare, there is a tendency for farmers who want to work differently with animal protectors who do not only want to grieve but want to help give animals a better life.

Politicians see that in addition to their legislation, the market is also taking action, with the support of not only animal keepers – and those who stand up for animal interests – but also with a positive role for supermarkets.

For example, 10 years ago, the ”Better Life Quality Mark” of the Dutch Society for the Protection of Animals was created, based on cooperation and with a view to achieving common goals.

This means that more than 100 million animals have now been given a better life. With more space, less suffering, real daylight, more exercise and distraction material. There are more than 1600 Better Life farmers who certainly care about animal welfare. As a result, the livestock industry improves and changes in small and sometimes larger steps.

You could also call that the mentality of the Dutch. In addition to those of the VOC mega stables, there are entrepreneurs and animal protectors who want to work together to achieve goals that are more in line with the ethics of the 21st century.

Let us not believe in illusions and fairy tales. Livestock farming is not pleasant for animals, it is not heaven on earth, rather often a hell. We must prevent more people from consuming more meat, fish, cheese, eggs and milk. Mega stables do not do justice to the own value of the animal, which is subject and not object, even under certain conditions.

However, it is also silly and even malicious to preach hell and damnation only from the pulpits of animal rights, that any improvement in welfare deserves to be condemned. These are the niches with orthodox and fundamentalist people who are perhaps just as bad as the merchants and women who keep animals to fill their wallets without conscience.

The coin can only change if resistance to the way people treat animals increases, consumers as intelligent, moral beings are tempted to do better, and when there is cooperation – with compromises – so that animals can live better, away from the systems to something or much better systems.

With the rise of organic meat, the development of cultured meat and an increasing moral awareness that we need to treat animals differently, the end – perhaps in this century – of the hard VOC mentality within livestock farming is also in sight.

It takes courage to discover, innovate and dare to change without dogmas from various sides.

More vegans, more vegetarians, more flexitarians, better farmers, better animal welfare and better legislation through more collaboration with innovations and even more temptations to do things differently: produce and consume.