Abstract

In the broader context of drawing sociological attention to the theme of consumption in general and food consumption in particular, and against the more specific background of the increasingly contested meat production and consumption, this article provides an overview of (reductions in) meat consumption in the Netherlands and Belgium with a focus on trends in the period 2010-2020. Based on household panel purchasing data and supply balance sheet data, it can be concluded that meat consumption in the Netherlands is relatively stable. Meanwhile, household panel purchasing data for Belgium show a more steady and stronger decline over the past decade, as well as more fluctuations in the supply balance sheet data. The ‘Covid year’ 2020 displays a distinct pattern in both countries that deserves further exploration. Both countries face growing shares of (self-declared) meat reducers or flexitarians, ranging from around thirty percent in Belgium to forty percent or more in the Netherlands, depending on the data source and its definition of flexitarianism. Despite the fact that consumers in both countries indicate that they intend to reduce their meat consumption and/or say they have already done so, the figures mainly show that evidence-based arguments and calls in favour of meat reduction are still more resonating in attitudes, awareness and intentions of people than in actual changes in meat consumption behaviour. The findings give reason to conclude that the position of meat in the current eating patterns and eating culture in the Low Countries is not immediately on the wane. This contribution concludes with a call for more attention for the sociology of consumption and provides some perspectives for further sociological analysis.

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