Healthy food has historically been more expensive than unhealthy food – with high inflation fewer and fewer people are able to afford it. Reason enough for consumer advocates to call for VAT to be abolished. Meat, on the other hand, will be more expensive.
Because of the high prices in the supermarket, the consumer advice centers are pushing for tax relief for healthier foods such as fruit and vegetables. The head of the Federal Association (vzbv), Ramona Pop, referred to proposals to abolish VAT on fruit, vegetables and legumes so that more of them could be bought. “That would be a sensible measure, especially in these times when food has actually become a strong price driver,” she said.
Pop explained, “We know from research that low-income households in particular may not suffer from real hunger from a lack of calories, but from a kind of hidden hunger – because the food they consume is not healthy enough.”
With a view to the discussion about price surcharges for meat to finance a conversion of animal husbandry to higher standards, the consumer advocate said: “In return, you can lower prices in other areas, such as fruit and vegetables, by abolishing VAT in order to achieve a reasonable balance between the get groceries.”
The idea is to make costs that everyone pays hidden visible as real prices for groceries. This is a big issue, especially in animal husbandry, said Pop. “We know from studies that consumers are quite willing to pay more for meat that they know where it comes from and how the animal was raised.”
The consumer centers see a need for improvement in the planned state animal husbandry labeling for meat. “For example, the license plate only includes a certain phase of life in which the animals are fattened, and even there with very narrow criteria. The idea of ??looking at everything from birth to slaughter hasn’t really worked out yet,” said Pop. It would also make sense to accompany the preparations with market research in order to really have a good, transparent, understandable logo. “Previous governments obviously didn’t think it was that important to get labeling going. We’re glad it’s happening now – in the spirit of transparency for consumers,” Pop said.
According to plans by Federal Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir, the mandatory labeling for domestic products should start with fresh pork in the first step in 2023. A system with five categories is planned. It begins with the “stable” type of housing with the minimum legal requirements. In the “Barn Space” stage, pigs must have at least 20 percent more space, among other things, in the “Fresh Air Barn” stage, contact with the outside climate, for example through open barn sides. There are also plans for the stages “outdoor/outdoor” and “organic”.
