He doesn’t want to dictate to people what they should eat, says Food Minister Özdemir. Nevertheless, he wants to create incentives for mass catering to switch to climate-friendly food. Özdemir would like to work out corresponding measures by the end of 2023.
Less fat, sugar and salt in processed foods and healthy food in canteens and refectories: Minister of Nutrition Cem Özdemir presented the cornerstones of the nationwide nutrition strategy. “We live in a society where many people no longer cook at home,” Özdemir said after the cabinet decision. Therefore, institutions such as schools, day care centers and companies should be used “as a lever” for healthy nutrition.
The Ministry of Agriculture announced that it was about creating the right framework conditions for healthy and sustainable nutrition. Key points of the strategy include a more plant-based diet, further reductions in sugar, fat and salt in processed foods and a reduction in food waste. It is also about healthier, more regional and climate-friendly food in communal catering – for example in canteens and daycare centers.
It also has something to do with the appreciation of the employees when “there is not only currywurst with fries in the canteen, but a selection,” said Özdemir. Healthy eating in hospitals or schools must also be a matter of course. “A good two-thirds of men, around half of women and almost every sixth child in Germany are overweight,” Özdemir explained.
He doesn’t want to dictate to people what they should eat – but he wants to make sure that everyone can eat well and healthily. “And if we orientate ourselves seasonally, then it can even be cheaper,” he said, with a view to the possible high costs of a healthier diet. The strategy is now to be worked out and approved by the government by the end of next year.
The German Farmers’ Association reacted cautiously. It is “positive that the federal government wants to promote nutritional education and a healthy lifestyle with sufficient exercise”. However, the association rejects “discrimination against certain foods”. Even today, about 70 percent of the German diet consists of plant-based foods. “Government campaigns against animal-based foods are inappropriate.”
The government’s strategy also states that a “restriction on food advertising aimed at children” is planned. The Central Association of the German Advertising Industry explained that advertising is “definitely not a lever for weight changes”. The division into “healthy” and “unhealthy” food is also not helpful, because each product has its place in a balanced overall diet. In the case of healthy daycare and school meals, on the other hand, the lever is “correctly applied to combat childhood obesity”.
