More fruit, vegetables and legumes, less meat, salt and sugar: the last meeting before Christmas in the cabinet is about food. Minister Özdemir presents plans for a nutrition strategy.

According to Federal Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir, food should be healthy, good for the environment and affordable. “Everyone should be able to eat well.” Together with representatives from science, business and civil society, the Green politician wants to develop a comprehensive nutrition strategy. The farmers’ association, social and environmental organizations and the food association, among others, support the project.

Claudia Plaß
ARD Capital Studio

One of the goals: strengthening the plant-based diet. More fruit, vegetables, whole grain products and legumes such as beans and peas should end up on the plate, and the consumption of sugar, fat and salt should be reduced.

Also, too much food still ends up in the trash. Almost eleven million tons of food in Germany are thrown away every year, and this should decrease.

Food from the region

Above all, Özdemir wants to use the plans to ensure that more organically produced food from the region is offered in canteens and canteens, as he says ARD Capital Studio said. The aim of the nutritional strategy must be that in all canteens in schools, factories, senior citizens and care facilities and hospitals “healthy food at the level of what science tells us” can be offered. This must also be affordable.

The Green politician also wants the quality standards of the German Society for Nutrition to become binding – they provide, among other things, for a diet with less fat, salt and sugar.

The traffic light parties already agreed in the coalition agreement to adopt a nutrition strategy by 2023. Much remains vague. It becomes more concrete when it comes to advertising. In the future, there will no longer be advertising for unhealthy foods aimed at children under the age of 14.

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