The fact that the food system change towards more sustainable products does not lie solely with the consumers becomes clear when looking at the political framework conditions at German national and EU level. Cem Özdemir, Federal Minister of Food and Agriculture, (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) wants to change this by making communal catering more regional and ecological.

Stephanie Wunder from the Ecologic Institute explains that food policy is decided particularly at the EU level through the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which, however, still links the allocation of subsidies too little to the provision of social services – for example, climate and biodiversity protection – but rather to the size of the agricultural area.

Despite the low level of subsidies for organic and regional products, it is important to use the influence of the public sector as a lever to create more demand for these products, says Stephanie Wunder. In concrete terms, this means that public institutions such as school canteens, Kindergardens or hospitals should focus more on these products in order to send important signals on the food market.

However, when tendering for their catering, public institutions are not allowed to specify regionality as a criterion in order not to violate EU competition law. Law professor Christopher Zeiss from the University of Police and Public Administration NRW explains that the reasons for this lie in the EU's interest in promoting the internal market and international trade.

Mücella Demir, project manager of BioStadt Bremen, is also confronted with these challenges. As a member of an association of 170 cities, the city of Bremen has set itself the goal of offering only organically produced food in public institutions by 2025. For this, however, there must also be the appropriate infrastructural framework conditions, such as suitable storage rooms.

Kerstin Siebenmorgen from the Freiburg Office for Schools and Education emphasises that the offer of these products and the practical conditions alone are not enough. She refers to the educational work that is necessary in schools, so that regional and seasonal products are also accepted and eaten with pleasure.

The production is part of "Knowledge for Future – The Environment Podcast", which is a cooperation between detektor.fm and Ecologic Institute and regularly reports on good approaches to sustainable management.

You can find the episode "Gutes Essen für alle!" on detektor.fm and on all popular streaming platforms (Spotify, Deezer, Apple Podcasts).