The Dutch animal welfare organisation (Varkens in Nood) and the Dutch Environmental Group “Milieudefensie” introduced the Meat Guide. This simple guide explains the welfare and environmental pressure for 14 different types of meat.
The free guide (creditcard size) can easily be put in the wallet while shopping, according to the developers of the guide. The information is also available online.
The meat guide explains 14 types of meat (ecological and conventional meat types) and gives them a score for animal welfare and environmental pressure. The scores are based on scientific studies that have been done especially for this meat guide.
The guide shows that biological minced beef scores the best. Small animals such as chickens, turkeys and rabbits have lower scores in terms of animal welfare but score better in terms of environmental pressure. Conventional pork end up at the bottom five of the list.
The Dutch Central Organisation for the Meat Sector is not happy with the meat guide though. According to them the guide misses nuance and is a missed change to better cooperate with the sector itself to communicate a broader message to the public (inforamtion about the whole production chain).
Related website:
Meat guide (in Dutch)