SWISS MEAT INDUSTRY CHALLENGED BY VEGETARIANS

USPA NEWS - The Swiss are known for being hardcore meat eaters. Nevertheless, their traditions are slowly changing thanks to an increased health consciousness and the growing influence of expats. It is not just supermarkets that are adapting to the changing eating habits...

Swiss food is influenced by French, German and north Italian cuisine with lots of regional dishes, many of which are based on cheese and potatoes. The Swiss do love their cheese (Gruyere, Emmental, Fribourg, Tilsit...). Cheese fondue is a winter clasic as is raclette (a potato and cheese specialty heated on the open fire). Other dairy products also are extremely popular. Traditional dishes remain a source of regional pride. Typical ingredients include beef, pork, chicken, cheese, grain and for vegetables leeks, carots, green beans, spinach and potatoes...

For Swiss German it includes veal and other meat dishes in creamy sauce with mushroom and roesties, or hashed potatoes. Vegetable pie or tarts, and whole-grain breads are few of the other swiss delicacies. All the regions of the country prepare sausage, both cooked or sliced cold like salami. Dried meat, especially beef, is a mountain specialty, and fries and steak are favourite in French speaking regions. In central Switzerland a traditional mountain and village dish of macaroni and potatoes in fresh cream is topped with grated cheese and sometimes served with bacon. Both fresh and saltwater fish are popular throughout the country. Above all, SWITZERLAND is extremely famous for it chocolate !

Immigration from the European Union is driving demand for a wider range of food stuffs and menus, including ethnic cuisine. Swissveg, the information centre for a plant-based diet estimates that around 3% of Switzerland's population is vegetarian. This figure stayed stable for 14 years and now, but thanks to the health benfit of non-meat diet, many people (young adults and women in particular) reduce their meat consumption. The vegetarian trend is part of a broader move towards a more varied diet, with an increasingly international flavour. Also, more and more people adopt a flexitarian diet.

Despite the vergetarian trend, the Swiss Meat Industry Association Proviande says that meat consumption is stable, at around 52 kilos per head per year. The vegetarian information centre says subsididies to the meat industry cannot be justified given the ecological cost of meat production. But without the subsidies Swissmeat would become more expensive and production would no longer be economically viable.