The fifth edition of the National Week Without Meat will take place in the Netherlands from 7-13 March 2022. Since the first edition in March 2018, this sustainability campaign has been an annual initiative that shows that eating less meat has a positive impact on the climate. New this year is the addition '&Dairy'. In addition to reducing meat, dairy also has a very taxing effect on the climate. During the National Week Without Meat &Dairy 2022, participants are therefore challenged not only to forgo meat, but also to try to replace dairy.
In 2018, the Week Without Meat was the campaign that for the first time opened the eyes of many Dutch people to the impact of eating meat on the climate. A lot has changed in the Dutch food culture in five years, which has made the organization decide that it is time for the next step. Eating meat is not the only thing that leaves a huge CO2 and water footprint. The consumption of dairy is also very harmful to the climate. In 2022, '&Dairy' was therefore added to the campaign as an extra layer, with which the campaign will permanently change its name to Nationale
The basis of the week remains that every Dutch person is challenged to leave meat for a week, in order to discover how tasty and easy it is to eat vegetarian. As an extra addition, participants are encouraged to also avoid dairy for a week. This promotes a more plant-based diet, in which meat and dairy are alternated with vegetarian and plant-based alternatives.
If you eat no meat for a week as an adult, you save 101 liters of water, 79 km of CO2 emissions and 770 grams of animal meat in seven days. If you also do not eat dairy for a week, you will save no less than 150 liters of water, CO2 emissions from driving 121 km and 3.2 kg of meat and dairy [1]. These savings have been calculated by Blonk Consultants by means of a 'cradle to end of life' life cycle analysis, taking into account the latest food consumption survey by the RIVM. The full report can be found here.
The National Week Without Meat &Dairy is in line with the growing awareness that eating animal products every day is no longer appropriate. The major environmental impact of meat and dairy plays an important role in this. Isabel Boerdam, initiator of the National Week Without Meat &Dairy:“This year we are adding '&Dairy' to inspire participants to replace dairy more often. In doing so, we want to remain at the forefront of this subject and open the Netherlands' eyes to the impact of dairy. Most Dutch people are now aware – partly thanks to our campaign – of the impact that meat has on the environment, but the impact of dairy is less well known. By drawing attention to this, we are committed to making it normal to eat and drink more plant-based foods.”
The National Week Without Meat &Dairy is a non-profit initiative. The campaign is made possible in part by 78 partners from the food industry. Boerdam:“As a foundation, we have again opted for a collective partner model in 2022, in which our partners support the campaign financially and each partner also implements the campaign in its own way. Together we will make this week a national success.”
You can register to participate at week Zondervlees.nl. You will be kept informed by means of tips and inspiration and you will receive access to the National Week Without Meat &Dairy magazine, which will be published at the beginning of March.
