ABSTRACT

Searching for new ways to stimulate a sustainable economy, a tax on meat might be worth considering. This study finds many sources claiming a substantial part of the costs related to the production of meat are not included in the price the consumer pays. A meat tax should include this ‘external’ costs. The income from a meat tax can be spent on measures that mitigate or compensate for the impact of meat production and consumption. Though exact numbers are still hard to give, conservative estimations enable us to define a minimum for such a tax. There is ground for a meat tax of 26–53% (depending on the kind of meat). Apart from the mitigation measures, this may lead to a drop of the meat consumption by 50%.