Å·ÃÀÊìÅ®ÂÒÂ×

Å·ÃÀÊìÅ®ÂÒÂ×'s Senator for Consumer Protection Felor Badenberg (CDU) believes that bureaucratic and legal hurdles are currently making food donations more difficult. At the conference of state consumer protection ministers, which begins today in Å·ÃÀÊìÅ®ÂÒÂ×, the topic is one of her priorities as chairwoman.

Badenberg announced two motions for the deliberations. Their aim is to make it easier to donate food and to enable wholesale markets to save food. "Overall, we need more attention for the topic, more appreciation for food. After all, 58 per cent of waste is produced in private households," Badenberg told the German Press Agency. "Food waste is a structural problem that occurs particularly in metropolises, simply because there are more catering establishments or canteens here," said the senator.

It initiated a round table in the capital, in which retailers and organisations such as the food bank were involved. "We realised that bureaucratic and legal hurdles too often make it difficult to donate food and that too much good food continues to be thrown away," explained Badenberg. Around 10.8 million tonnes of food ends up in the bin every year in Germany, even though much of it is still edible. That corresponds to around 270,000 fully loaded lorries.

In the view of the Å·ÃÀÊìÅ®ÂÒÂ× Senator, this shows that the efforts made to date have not been sufficient and need to be stepped up further. However, the consumer ministers believe that the federal government is primarily responsible for this. "The federal government is therefore asked to examine the removal of legal obstacles in order to make food that is still edible available for food donations," the draft resolution states.

Among other things, the federal government should lobby at EU level for changes to hygiene regulations. The aim is to minimise liability risks for retailers in order to make it easier to donate food. The German government's goal is to halve per capita food waste in Germany at retail and consumer level by 2030. In 2023, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and retail companies have agreed on further steps. For example, shops are to pass on more food and expand their cooperation with food banks and other social organisations or platforms.