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Cem Özdemir: The container ban is "absurd"
Photo: Dennis Duddek / Eibner / IMAGO
After his controversial remarks on food prices, Federal Food Minister Cem Özdemir (Greens) followed up: He was planning to facilitate food donations and reduce waste.
He told the editorial network Germany (RND).
In particular, "questions of liability and tax law need to be clarified," he said.
For many companies, fear of civil law suits is "an obstacle."
It must become more attractive for retailers to donate food instead of throwing it away, said Özdemir.
Some of the new measures are supposed to be mandatory: "It has been shown that it is not enough to rely on voluntary agreements, as the previous government did," he said.
More containers for everyone
The minister also criticized the criminality of containers, i.e. the removal of discarded food from supermarket waste containers, as "absurd".
Containers are banned in Germany, but for people with low incomes it is a way of getting food cheaply. The practice is also popular among environmentally conscious students. Supermarkets, on the other hand, often try to prevent food that is still edible from being rescued from the trash because they fear liability risks. The rules are not always strictly enforced. Last year, however, the constitutional court rejected a complaint from students in Bavaria who had been caught in the container.
Özdemir also announced that he would also campaign for greater financial support for farmers in converting to climate-friendly and species-appropriate production methods.
For this, both an increase in the budget of his ministry and a financial contribution from consumers, for example through an animal welfare tax, are possible.
"If we want structural reforms, we have to support the farmers financially," he said.
Compared to the sums that would be spent in the automotive industry for the transformation from fossil-fuel combustion to emission-free mobility, the support needs of agriculture are "relatively modest".
An animal welfare tax had already been discussed by the old federal government, but had not been implemented.
According to a study commissioned by the government in May, it would cost three to four billion euros a year to significantly improve the conditions for keeping cows, pigs and chickens.
With the announcement, Özdemir follows on from controversially discussed statements about food prices: He recently announced that he wanted to tackle the "junk prices" in the grocery market.
Social associations had called for compensation for low-income people.
jlk / AFP
