As of: February 15, 2024, 2:33 p.m
By: Petra Straub
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The 160 members of the Citizens' Assembly on Nutrition in Transition have formulated nine recommendations, which they will hand over to Bundestag President Bärbel Bas on February 20th.
Four people from Pöcking also took part.
© Robert Boden
The Citizens' Assembly has been in existence since May 2023 on the main topic of “Changing Nutrition”.
People from Pöcking also work on the 160-member committee on recommendations to improve nutrition policy.
On Tuesday they will be handed over to Bundestag President Bärbel Bas.
Pöcking/Berlin – food labeling and waste, environmental and climate friendliness, animal welfare.
The subject area covered is diverse.
This was discussed between the middle of last year and January of this year by 160 randomly selected people from all over Germany.
They met for eight three-hour online sessions and three face-to-face weekends in Berlin.
Presentations from experts and politicians of all stripes, moderators and carers ensured a professional setting and a smooth process.
Among the representatives of the citizens' committee installed by the Federal Council were people from Pöcking.
They told our editorial team how they experienced the work and assessed the result.
“I hope that politicians will accept some of the suggestions.”
76-year-old Ute Kammermeier is absolutely thrilled about the event.
Her son and daughter-in-law motivated her to take the invitation in the mailbox seriously and confirm her participation.
There was a “friendly and democratic” atmosphere at the meetings, she describes the work on the PC and in Berlin. Discussions and work in small groups also took place, as did visits to the Berliner Tafel or the federal canteen.
A visit to the supermarket was interesting with the requirement to select good food for a meal for a family of four for nine euros.
The topic of “animal welfare” is particularly close to her heart.
She shows a lack of understanding on this topic, for example the regulation that German piglets fattened in Poland are later marketed in this country as German products.
Finding out about responsibilities and political connections at the federal level was “very interesting”.
A recommendation for a sugar tax has not been launched due to a lack of agreement, but Ute Kammermeier can still identify with the recommendations that have been made: “I hope that politicians will accept some of the suggestions.” Implementation could - if so - take time.
It was said that it took eight years to get the “Lunch for Children” project financed.
She likes the fact that lunch should not only be paid to children from needy families.
This could prevent stigmatization.
Since the woman from Pöckingen has become better informed about food, she needs “double the time to shop”.
She pays attention to labels and avoiding waste - with a positive effect: despite the increase in prices, she needs less economic money than last year.
Different interests
The 24-year-old student Jonathan Schönecker from Pöcking was not able to take part in all of the Citizens' Council events.
Nevertheless, he decided not to miss the opportunity to participate and received “a lot of new input”.
He praises the good organization of the events and the opportunity to look at the living situation of others, for example single parents and recipients of community benefit.
The different interests became clear when the topics were defined.
The event contributed a lot to forming one's own opinion.
Schönecker has looked a little more intensively into the topic of “labels”.
But also discussed other topics.
He describes the animal welfare tax as a kind of “modern indulgence trade”; instead of giving up meat, you pay a tax in order to be able to continue eating meat.
more transparency
He also brought criticism in Berlin - because the recommendations are not binding for the Federal Council and the meetings are expensive.
On January 14th, the decision was made for the nine-point list of recommendations with free lunch for children, easier shopping through mandatory labeling and the obligation to pass on edible food that would otherwise be thrown away.
The committee recommends a transparent presentation of animal welfare, an animal welfare consumer levy and a new definition of basic foods, communal catering in care facilities, an age limit for energy drinks and more staff for food inspections.