The Netherlands

Why is the Netherlands is an interesting case study for the contested protein transition? There is not space to go into all the interesting reasons, but here are four aspects to draw you in:

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There is an interesting paradox of continued intensive livestock production alongside urgent environmental damage

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• The Netherlands has an intensive and extremely productive livestock industry – one of the largest exporters of meat in Europe and a renowned dairy producer

• On a global scale the Netherlands is heavily dependent on soy imports and embedded in a damaging extraction system which push animal bodies and the environment far beyond their limits. On a national scale, we’re seeing the direct impact of this through the current “nitrogen crisis”.

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There is political and social tension over who is to blame

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• Livestock farmers, agricultural policy since the Second World War, globalised food markets, and profit-driven corporations all have a hand to play.

• Government initiatives to tackle this problem have backfired with farmers, who experience measures to cut their cattle and pig herds and farm buyout schemes as an unfair allocation of blame and a threat to their identity and livelihood.

• The rise of the Farmer-Citizen Movement or BoerBurgerBeweging (BBB) in provincial politics attests to the strength of discontent at the way the crisis is being handled.

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Simultaneously, groundwork is being laid at the consumer and policy level for a “protein transition”

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• Entailing a shift from industrial livestock as the main source of protein in diets towards more sustainable and plant-based sources.

• Private innovations in lab-grown meat, alongside supermarket chains’ mainstreaming of affordable meat substitute products, alongside a National Protein Strategy, and increasing visibility of vegetarian and vegan initiatives in cosmopolitan cities.

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All of this is happening in a country containing extremely contrasting food cultures

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• The Netherlands is a land known for its culinary efficiency – and often a land of despair for foodies when presented with a range of deep-fried goods, processed sausage, and mashed potato.

• And yet there are also strong food-focused communities: from Turkish and Moroccan migrants sharing their spices and halal meat, to regenerative neighbourhood farms and children’s plant-focused cooking classes.

• This wrestling with the food system presents a ripe moment to study the politics of everyday life, as social and spatial power dynamics are made more explicit in times of flux and encounter.