Ukraine war: SPD minister calls on citizens to consume less meat
Created: 03/30/2022, 17:10
By: Patricia Huber
Federal Development Minister Svenja Schulze advises less meat consumption.
© Kay Nietfeld/dpa
Development Minister Svenja Schulze is critical of German meat consumption.
If production were reduced, more land could be used for growing grain.
Berlin - Concern about a shortage of grain and thus important foods made from it, such as bread, is currently driving politics.
Since Ukraine was one of the most important export countries for grain, the fear that a shortage could soon arise as a result of the Ukraine war* is growing.
War in Ukraine: Criticism of land use in German agriculture is getting louder
Therefore, Federal Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir wants to support German farmers.
The EU is also launching a 500 million euro subsidy for farmers.
The subsidy is intended to help compensate for the increased costs for fertilizer and fuel.
But again and again it is criticized that too much agricultural land is used for animal feed production.
Development Minister Svenja Schulze (SPD) is also critical of current land use in Germany.
In an interview with
RND
, she says: “Grain belongs first and foremost on the table – without going through the feeding trough.
For a slaughtered pig to provide one calorie, it must consume three calories of plant food during its lifetime.
60 percent of the corn produced worldwide is fed to animals, in the EU it is similar with wheat.”
Eat less meat: Svenja Schulze doesn't want to dictate to anyone
She goes on to say that she doesn't want to dictate food to anyone, but "it would help developing and emerging countries a lot in the medium and long term if we in rich countries ate less animal products." She suggests reducing pork production, to free up more arable land for developing countries to grow grain.
She also urged Germans to eat less meat.
If pork production in Germany were reduced by 30 percent, one million hectares of arable land would be free, about a tenth of Germany's arable land.
"You could grow five million tons of grain on it," says Schulze.
A reduction in the proportion of corn and grain in biofuel must also be considered.
But Schulze also encountered opposition to this suggestion.
Farmer President Joachim Rukwied makes it clear to
Bild
that the demands are technically incorrect.
"Feed grain is mostly grown in regions where the soil is often unsuitable for growing bread wheat," he explains.
FDP agricultural expert Carin Konrad believes that Schulze's proposal does not reflect reality, since the barley has already been sown.
Speed limit and car-free Sunday: This is how oil should be saved
But it's not just when it comes to food that some politicians and organizations have wanted drastic changes since the start of the Ukraine war.
In view of the tight market and rising oil prices, the topics of speed limits and even driving bans have been raised again and again lately.
The environmental organization Greenpeace, for example, is pushing for a temporary speed limit, according to which the maximum speed on motorways should be limited to 100 km/h.
In an interview with Die
Welt
, the energy policy spokeswoman for the SPD went even further
: "
Car-free Sundays have not harmed us in the past and could also make a contribution today if a corresponding shortage requires it."
(ph) With material the dpa *Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.
