Germany’s nutrition strategy in-the-maiking needs more fleshing out

According to Germany’s agriculture ministry, the goal of the nutrition strategy already agreed to in the coalition agreement is to “make a healthy and sustainable diet easier for consumers.” The strategy should work towards a more plant-based diet and a reduction in sugar, fat and salt consumption. The ministry considers catering at the workplace and in educational and care facilities as a starting point. The German government also wants to use the strategy – the first of its kind in the country – to counteract food waste “with a view to conserving natural resources.” As an umbrella strategy, it aims to bundle existing, more specific laws, measures and strategies like the strategy to reduce food waste or the so-called reduction and innovation strategy for sugar, fats and salt in finished products. With its overarching approach and the trend towards a stronger focus on entire food systems instead of mainly on agricultural production, the planned food strategy is similar in its approach to the Commission’s flagship Farm to Fork strategy. The government also said the strategy should be ready by the end of 2023, following consultation with associations and coordination across departments.

The government’s plan, while approved in principles by all associations and stakeholders that attended the virtual meeting, expectations varied to some degree. In particular, the strategy’s rate for organic food consumption compared to overall consumption proves to be a bone of contention. In its agreement, the coalition government has already set a 30% target for organic food production by 2030. The alliance Ernährungswende Anpacken – a coalition of 22 organisations from different sectors – demanded in a statement to target a share of 50% organic products in communal catering by 2023. But the German Farmers’ Association believes that regional food, whether from conventional or organic production, should be equally supported, a spokesperson told EURACTIV Germany. The association also called for the strategy to commit to a mixed diet. The same was said in a statement from the German Food Association representing the industry, which said that animal and plant-based foods “make an important contribution to a needs-based energy and nutrient supply.”A “plant-based diet from the field to the plate” is among Ernährungswende Anpacken’s 10 core demands for the strategy. But stakeholders also disagree on whether the nutrition strategy should be rooted in strict or soft, more voluntary measures. For example, the alliance of associations favours “steering taxes” by either lowering VAT on sustainable or animal-friendly products while dropping VAT for others. By contrast, the German Farmers’ Association strictly rejects a “punitive tax to steer nutrition” as “patronising consumers”.

Meanwhile, the food association also spoke out in favour of voluntariness and adherence to “market economy principles” concerning food companies. The strategy must thus “take into account that it is a company task to decide which concrete measures can be taken at company level,” the food association added.

Forrás: euractiv.com