If you tell Dutch people there’s someone in their neighborhood who is gassing pigs or cutting off their tails, people are disgusted and mad. They think this person should be tracked down and prosecuted. When you tell them that it’s a company doing this, a slaughterhouse or a farmer, then they don’t seem to care. I personally think people eating dead animals is horrific. But the least people can do is be aware of the conditions these animals lived in and were slaughtered in. Then at least you know what you enable. That’s why I am dedicating this post to the ‘Beter Leven’ label, a label that describes the living conditions of livestock in The Netherlands. Here’s the ‘Beter Leven’ label on meat explained.
Public information
I am often shocked by how little Dutch people know about the food they eat. Food in general. But when it comes to meat, it’s even more shocking (if that’s possible at all). Everything I am sharing today is based on public information. You can find everything on the website of the ‘animal protection organization’ in The Netherlands (I don’t think the name is right, because they don’t advocate for veganism). So, in fact there’s no new information in this post today. But I just wanted to show it in tables, so that everything is visible easier.
Share of ‘Beter Leven’ in the market
The latest numbers I could find are the following: In 2021, 5% of all famers had a ‘Beter Leven’ keurmerk. So, one in 20 livestock farms has this label. So, what I am telling you today, and it’s not going to be pretty, trust me, is what just 5% of the animals bred in The Netherlands endure. 91% of livestock famers do not have this label. And so, those standards are even lower. It’s absolutely shocking. And besides that, 4% of famers have an organic label. I won’t be discussing those living conditions today. More about that another time. Here’s the ‘Beter Leven’ label on meat explained
The ‘Beter Leven’ label
Before I am sharing the actual tables of information, I want to quickly explain a little bit on how the label works. The label works with a system of three levels, three stars. One star is the lowest standard within the label and three stars is the highest standard of this label. 81% of the famers who have a ‘Beter Leven’ label, have a one-star-label (WakkerDier). Here’s what the standards mean for different animals bred in The Netherlands:
Pigs
| One star-label | Two Stars-label | Three stars-label |
| 2,25 m2 of inside room per female who is used for breeding | 2,5 m2 of inside room per female who is used for breeding | 2,5 m2 of inside room per female who is used for breeding |
| No option to go outside for a female who is used for breeding, ever | 1 m2 of outside space per female who is used for breeding | 1,9 m2 of outside space per female who is used for breeding |
| 1 m2 of inside room per individual* | 1,1 m2 of inside room per individual | 1,3 m2 of inside room per individual |
| No option to go outside per individual, ever | 0,7 m2 of outside room per individual | 1 m2 of outside room per individual |
| No access to a mud pool, ever | No access to a mud pool, ever | Pregnant females have access to a mud pool |
| Tail is cut off | Tails are not cut off | Tails are not cut off |
| Access to toys | Access to toys | Access to toys |
| Maximum transport for babies is 6 hours, maximum transport for adults is 8 hours | Maximum transport for babies is 6 hours, maximum transport for adults is 8 hours | Maximum transport for babies is 6 hours, maximum transport for adults is 8 hours |
| No minimum amount of days with the mother for babies | No minimum amount of days with the mother for babies | Babies stay with the mother for at least 39 days |
Calfs used for meat
| One star-label | Two stars-label | Three stars-label |
| 1,8 m2 of inside room per calf | 2 m2 of inside room per calf | 4 m2 of inside room per calf |
| No rules for flooring | Soft place to lay down mandatory | Soft place to lay down mandatory |
| No option to go outside, ever | Option to go outside on concrete mandatory (but they don’t state how much room or when) | Permanent option to go outside on concrete mandatory (but they don’t state how much room) |
| After two weeks 200 grams of roughage, after fifteen week 500 grams of roughage (to prevent iron deficiency) | After two weeks unlimited supply of roughage (to prevent iron deficiency) | After two weeks unlimited supply of roughage (to prevent iron deficiency) |
| Transport allowed after 28 days | Transport allowed after 28 days | Transport allowed after 3 months |
| A maximum of 8 hours for transport | A maximum of 8 hours for transport | A maximum of 8 hours for transport |
| Slaughter after 6 months | Slaughter after 8 to 10 months | Slaughter after 8 to 10 months |
| At least 6 hours of darkness every 24 hours** | At least 6 hours of darkness every 24 hours | At least 6 hours of darkness every 24 hours |
Cows used for meat
| One star-label | Two stars-label | Three-stars label |
| Calf is separated from the mom after 3 months | Calf is separated from the mom after 5 months | Calf is separated from the mom after 6 months |
| 5,4 m2 of inside room per individual | 6,6 m2 of inside room per individual | 8,5 m2 of inside room per individual |
| Stall floor is covered with hay | Stall floor is covered with hay | Stall floor is covered with hay |
| 150 days a year outside for 8 hours a day or 115 days outside for 24 hours a day, unless it’s a male older than 1 year old | 180 days a year outside for 12 hours a day or 135 days outside for 24 hours a day, unless it’s a male older than 1 year old | 210 days a year outside for 12 hours a day or 160 days outside for 24 hours a day, unless it’s a male older than 1 year old |
| No breeding with breeds that can’t give birth naturally | No breeding with breeds that can’t give birth naturally | No breeding with breeds that can’t give birth naturally |
| Castration can only be performed in the first three months under anesthesia *** | Castration can only be performed in the first three months under anesthesia | Castration can only be performed in the first three months under anesthesia |
| A maximum of 4 hours for transport | A maximum of 4 hours for transport | A maximum of 4 hours for transport |
| Dehorning is allowed under anesthesia | Dehorning is allowed under anesthesia | Dehorning is allowed under anesthesia |
Cows used for milk
| One star-label | Two stars-label | Three stars-label |
| One place to lay down and 5 m2 of walking space per individual | One place to lay down and 7,5 m2 of walking space per individual | One place to lay down (+ %5 of the total amount) and 10 m2 of walking space per individual |
| Brushes must be placed in the stall | Brushes must be placed in the stall | Brushes must be placed in the stall |
| Floor is covered by rubber or litter | Floor is covered by rubber or litter | Floor is covered by rubber or litter |
| 120 days a year outside for 6 hours a day. Babies at least 100 days in the first two years of life. | 150 days a year outside for 8 hours a day. Babies at least 100 days in the first two years of life. | 180 days a year outside for 8 hours a day. Babies at least 100 days in the first two years of life. |
| Calf separated from mother right after birth (but has been licked clean by the mother) | Calf separated from mother right after birth (but has been licked clean by the mother) | Calf separated from mother right after birth (but has been licked clean by the mother) |
| Calfs must have access to water**** | Calfs must have access to water | Calfs must have access to water |
| Maximum of 8 hours for transport | Maximum of 8 hours for transport | Maximum of 8 hours for transport |
Chickens used for meat
| One star-label | Two-stars label | Three stars-label |
| 12 individuals on 1 m2 | 13 individuals on 1 m2***** | 11 individuals on 1 m2 |
| Breeding with a slower-growing breed | Breeding with a slower-growing breed | Breeding with a slower-growing breed |
| Mandatory enrichment materials like grain and hay | Mandatory enrichment materials like grain and hay | Mandatory enrichment materials like grain and hay |
| Mandatory 20% of outside area (not entirely outside, as it has a roof) | 1 chicken per 1 m2 of outside area (Note: I have no clue what they mean with this rule, it’s unclear) | 1 chicken per 2 m2 of outside area (Note: I have no clue what they mean with this rule, it’s unclear) |
| 8 hours of darkness per 24 hours** | 8 hours of darkness per 24 hours** | 8 hours of darkness per 24 hours** |
| Maximum transport of 4 hours | Maximum transport of 4 hours | Maximum transport of 4 hours |
| Not stated | Slaughter after 56 days | Not stated |
Chickens used for eggs
| One star-label | Two stars-label | Three stars-label |
| 9 individuals per m2 | 9 individuals per m2 | 6,7 individuals per m2 |
| Enrichment: grain, hay and picking stones | Enrichment: grain, hay and picking stones | Enrichment: grain, hay and picking stones |
| 20% of outside area (not entirely outside, as it has a roof) | 50% of the stall is outside area (not entirely outside, as it has a roof) and an entirely outside area (1 chicken per 4 m2). (Again, I have no clue what this means, I guess not all chickens get to go outside) | 100% of the stall is outside area (not entirely outside, as it has a roof) and an entirely outside area (1 chicken per 4 m2). (Again, I have no clue what this means, I guess not all chickens get to go outside) |
| Maximum 6000 chickens per stall-compartment (Note: this is again very vague) | Maximum 6000 chickens per stall-compartment | Maximum 6000 chickens per stall-compartment |
| Not allowed to dim the lights in the stall | Not allowed to dim the lights in the stall | Not allowed to dim the lights in the stall |
Turkeys
| One star-label | Two star-label | Three star-label |
| Enrichment: hay | Enrichment: hay | Enrichment: hay and jump tables |
| Some sort of daylight | Some sort of daylight | Some sort of daylight |
| Outside area with a roof | 6 m2 of outside area per individual | 10 m2 of outside area per individual |
| 6 individuals per m2 | 6 individuals per m2 | 6 individuals per m2 |
| Slower-growing breed | Slower-growing breed | Slower-growing breed |
| Point of beak is cut of by laser | Point of beak is cut of by laser | Point of beak is cut of by laser |
Rabbits
| One star-label****** |
| Tunnels and walls to hide behind |
| 11,1 individuals per m2 |
| Mothers who just had babies are allowed to be in cages with others, but only 23 days after giving birth and until 6 days before they’re giving birth again******* |
| 8 hours of darkness per 24 hours** |
*******Rabbits are kept in cages in The Netherlands. That alone is horrific. But mothers who are pregnant or just gave birth are kept alone in cages. Even worse.
Shocking
That’s the ‘Beter Leven’ label on meat explained. I know all of the information I just listed. I have seen the footage. It’s heartbreaking and makes me furious. But summing this all up makes me shocked once again. And these are just the living conditions, I haven’t said a word about how the animals are slaughtered (more about that another time). Doing this to animals is normal in The Netherlands. And veganism is seen as extreme. I have no words for this.
Remember: 4% of the animals bred in the Netherlands are bred on organic farms. Those conditions are still criminal if you’d ask me, but those are 4% ‘luckiest’ animals in this industry. And then there’s this ‘Beter Leven’ label, which represents, the 5% ‘luckiest’ animals below that. 91% of the animals bred in The Netherlands live in conditions that are even worse than what I just listed. What I just listed is already horrendous, with beaks cut off, individuals kept in cages, babies taken away from mothers, no option to go outside, ever. I hope that in decades we will look back to this period with shame. What we’re doing is criminal to say the least.
Vague information
I tried to give all the information very clearly in this post. One article with all the information. Easy to compare and to see. But this is not what they do at the official website from ‘Beter Leven’. A lot of information is hidden and you really have to search for specific information. It took me quite some time to make this article. And besides that, the information is often really vague. One example is the criteria ‘an outside area (1 chicken per 4 m2)’. What the heck does this mean? It does not say how big the outside area should be, there’s no minimum per chicken and they’re very vague about what the outside area is. And
I think they do this with a lot of the information. They very vague on purpose. And the information they give is what is going ‘right’ in their eyes. They don’t state the things they’re still proud of. It’s often not stated after how long the animals go to the slaughterhouse, or what the flooring of the stall looks like, etc. They also elaborate more on the details of the three star-label, as that is ‘best’. They’re very summier on the one-star label (but that’s 81% of all the farms who have this label). Come on man. We all know you have something to hide. And you call yourself ‘animal protection’.
What I hope to do with this article
I hope to show you with this article that eating meat is unethical. I hope you stop doing it and stop causing this misery. If I have gone vegan over 7 years ago, you can do it too. These animals don’t have to live like this (and remember, most of the animals you’re eating have it worse than what I just listed). I also wrote this article to be able to share facts about meat. When I see a dead turkey with a one star-label in a supermarket for example, I’ll know that it had it’s beak lasered off. Or when I see a dead pig with a one star-label, I know that it has never seen the outside world. I want the world to know that. I want them to care.
Yours sincerely,
Romee