Skip to main content
Home

Main navigation

  • Top stories
  • Health
  • Crime
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Tech
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Weird
  • 1-1-2
Image
Milkshake festival Amsterdam
Milkshake festival Amsterdam - Credit: Photo: Milkshake festival Amsterdam / Facebook
Entertainment
Food
Milkshake
festival
vegetarian
Marieke Samallo
Amsterdam
sustainability
Monday, 28 May 2018 - 12:30
Share this:
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • linkedin
  • whatsapp
  • reddit

Amsterdam festival startled by controversy about vegetarian meals

Festival Milkshake will only be selling vegetarian food at its seventh edition on July 28th and 29th in Amsterdam, the organizers announced over the weekend. The decision was met with some strong reactions. "We are really surprised about that", organizer Marieke Samallo said to RTL Nieuws.

"We didn't invent the simple solution", Samallo said. "The Digital Festival in Amsterdam hasn't served meat in three years. We are now also taking our responsibility."

While the response to Milkshake's decision not to sell meat at the next festival was mainly positive, there were some fierce critics as well. For example, a VVD member of the district committee for Amsterdam Centrum complained that Milkshake is reducing the "individual freedom of choice" in the Dutch capital. "I do not want to be forced by this organization to eat vegetarian food", he said, according to the broadcaster.

Twitter users pointed out to him and other critics that they don't have to go to Milkshake, that eating no meat for a day won't turn them into vegetarians, and that the organization is free to choose what kind of food they serve.

Milkshake is a festival that stands for inclusiveness, love and a better world, Samallo said to RTL. "We conducted a public survey which showed that the large majority of visitors applaud this. You have to calculate how many liters of water the making of a hamburger costs. And the number of food trucks at the festival that sold meat was already very limited."

The festival is also taking a number of other measures to make Milkshake more sustainable. Only card payments will be allowed, all cutlery, plates and napkins will be biodegradable, and the toilets will be more environmentally friendly.

Individuele keuzevrijheid in Amsterdam wordt een steeds minder groot goed! -_-#uzalnietzondigen https://t.co/cx4T1OsZJ4

— Bas (@Bas_vanderSande) May 25, 2018

Follow us:

Latest stories

  • Some Dutch cities not flying Syrian flags for earthquake victims at refugees' request
  • Van Gogh Museum kicks off 50th anniversary year with family exhibition
  • Three Dutch people reportedly among those killed in Turkey-Syria earthquakes
  • History of Indonesia in colonial era deserves a prominent place in Dutch education
  • Dutch consumers hunting down more cheap nearly-expired groceries and factory rejects
  • Eneco will sign fixed energy price contracts for the first time since 2021

Top stories

  • Three Dutch people reportedly among those killed in Turkey-Syria earthquakes
  • Putin played an active role in conflict around MH17 downing; No new suspects prosecuted
  • 42% of secondary school teachers witnessed anti-Semitism in class
  • 40% of home buyers end 2022 were first-time buyers
  • Dutch team rescues 6 people from rubble in Turkey; Death toll climbs to 8,100
  • Rutte tells Erdogan the Dutch can offer more help; Dutch donate millions in relief aid

© 2012-2023, NL Times, All rights reserved.

Footer menu

  • Privacy
  • Contact
  • Partner content