Many foods are too cheap – at the expense of agriculture and the climate.
This is how the new Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir (Greens) sees it.
The “junk prices” for meat, for example, must come to an end, he said recently.
He quickly identified those primarily responsible: "The big players can no longer dictate prices and optimize margins."
In the grocery store, a complex system of finger pointing has developed over the decades: from the farmer to the discounter, everyone blames one another.
And politics seems overwhelmed, as Özdemir's predecessor Julia Klöckner (CDU) demonstrated.
There is also massive resistance to Özdemir's advance.
How Aldi Nord talks itself out of responsibility
We wanted to know: What is really behind the low prices for food?
And who benefits from it?
The search for answers leads us to Essen, to the headquarters of Aldi Nord.
The discounter freely admits that cheap meat is a lure for customers in the price war with the competition.
Ultimately, prices are just the result of supply and demand.
Farmers' livelihoods, groundwater pollution, climate crisis?
"No Aldi problem."
But the cool market logic is reaching its limits: "The fundamental problem is that other people pay dearly for these cheap prices," says SPIEGEL editor Nils Klawitter.
You can now hear what the consequences will be for food prices in the future in the new voice-catching podcast:
Do you have suggestions for topics or feedback on our podcast?
Speak to our mailbox or send us a voice message via WhatsApp - both on +49 40 38080 400. Or send an email to votenfang@spiegel.de.
The source information and further links to the program can be found here.