The World Briefly

September 08, 2022

Meaty Problems

Netherlands

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The Dutch city of Haarlem will ban most meat ads from public spaces, the first city in the world to do so, the BBC reported.

The new rules – drafted by GroenLinks, a green political party – will prohibit advertisements showing meat products in the city of 160,000 people, located nearly 19 miles from Amsterdam.

City officials said the move is aimed at curbing meat consumption and reducing the meat industry’s environmental impact. They added, however, that it had not been decided whether sustainably-produced meat would be included in the ban, according to the Evening Standard.

The ban is set to take effect in 2024 but it is currently facing opposition from the meat sector and other political parties.

Critics called it “almost dictatorial” and an “unacceptable violation of entrepreneurial freedom.” Legal analysts cautioned that the new rules could infringe on freedom of expression and lead to lawsuits from wholesalers.

Around 95 percent of Dutch people consume meat, although more than half do not eat it every day, according to Statistics Netherlands.

The United Nations estimates that farmed livestock produces more than 14 percent of all man-made greenhouse gases worldwide, including methane. Beef is the top contributor, followed by lamb.

Elsewhere in the country, cities like Amsterdam and The Hague, which still have ads for meat, have still banned ads for the aviation and fossil fuel industries.

This story originally appeared in the September 08, 2022 newsletter, The Best, the Worst, of Times.