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Bratwurst, pea burgers, corn on the cob – or a self-killed cow. What’s on the grill heats up tempers.
“I don’t eat meat because animals have to be killed for it,” says Ivana Sabo, who has also been involved in a pigsty occupation with other animal rights activists. The young woman eats a vegan diet. Because the fact that animals have to be killed for the barbecue fun spoils your appetite. Grill master Freddy Camerer is convinced that grilling is about more than just appetite: Grilling is a way of life, and a good piece of meat is part of it: “You grill in the garden, drink a beer with the neighbors and celebrate this way of life.”
Almost everyone eats meat
Mr. and Mrs. Swiss love meat: in 2021 they ate even more meat than in the previous year, 52 kilograms per capita and per year. Even if the Federal Nutrition Commission advises consuming less meat, 94 percent of Swiss people eat meat regularly – preferably pork. “Meat simply belongs on the Swiss menu,” says pig farmer Meinrad Pfister.
And what about animal welfare? “We have the largest share of labels and the strictest animal welfare law,” emphasizes the central president of Suisseporcs. “What do the animals in the stables care about the Animal Welfare Act?” farmer Sarah Heiligentag gets upset, because even the best animal protection law cannot meet the needs of an animal. At Sarah Heiligentag’s Lebehof, the animals do not have to serve any specific purpose and do not end up in the slaughterhouse. At the public barbecue evenings on the farm of the animal ethicist, only vegan food is grilled. Renunciation in favor of animal welfare.
Meat consumption harms the climate
You can also do without meat for the sake of the climate. Various studies, including those from the United Nations Agricultural Organization, state that agriculture and food products are responsible for up to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. Animal products in particular have a bad climate balance. There are now many substitute products. Coop, for example, has 1,600 vegetarian and vegan foods, including meat substitutes.
The best-known Swiss meat substitute is «Planted». The young company produces chicken from peas. So you can do without meat, but not without the important proteins and: “On average, meat substitutes are more sustainable. Planted products have a better footprint than the corresponding cut of meat,” says co-founder and food engineer Lukas Böni.
Pea cervelat
Food and nutrition are deeply rooted in human beings. A change, for example away from meat, can take generations. And the market share of protein substitutes is still small. It is 2 percent globally. Lukas Böni from Planted stays tuned: “The Cervelat is the biggest challenge. If the Swiss say yes to our Planted-Cervelat, then we’ve made it!”
pasture killing
For Nils Müller, that doesn’t sound sustainable and it doesn’t sound like a change in diet. The organic farmer advocates a middle course: Less meat, but good meat. So back to the Sunday roast: «The other day I grilled from our Aida. It was a 12-year-old suckler cow that I killed myself.” The organic farmer kills his cows himself in the pasture by shooting them in the head. He appeals not to outsource the killing to a faceless industry. Müller is convinced: “We have to go back to a natural circular economy.” Ultimately, the organic farmer sees this as the key to global nutrition.