The Berlin Food Strategy - the starting signal for the food revolution?

The Berlin Nutrition Strategy

The starting signal for the food revolution?

Berlin is growing. According to the Federal Statistical Office, the population will exceed four million by 2035 and rise to 4.4 million by 2070 if the birth rate, life expectancy and immigration remain at current levels.[1] As the population grows, so does the demand for food. In Berlin, the annual per capita consumption of food is estimated at 1000 kg and the associated demand for agricultural land at 2052 m².[2] At the same time, food production accounts for more than a third of global greenhouse gas emissions and thus contributes to a large extent to the climate crisis.[3] The challenge for Berlin is now to ensure the food security of the population without neglecting the issues of sustainability and climate protection.

This so-called food turnaround requires a comprehensive transformation process with cross-departmental cooperation between business, administration, science, associations and civil society initiatives. This is why the Berlin Senate Department for Justice and Consumer Protection has developed the Berlin Food Strategy together with the Berlin Food Council. The aim is to promote regionality, sustainability and fairness in food production and to provide healthy food for everyone. To this end, various measures are proposed in seven fields of action, the implementation of which is accompanied by monitoring, evaluation and success control. [4]

In the first area of action, communal catering, e.g. in schools and daycare centers, should set a good example. To this end, the proportion of organic, regional, seasonal, healthy and fairly traded food should be continuously increased and food waste reduced to a minimum. So far, the most progress has been made in primary school catering. For example, the proportion of organic food was increased to 50% by August 2021 and certain foods such as pasta, rice, potatoes, dairy products and fruit may only be offered in organic quality. Selected foods such as rice, bananas and pineapple must also come from verifiably fair trade. The federal canteens of the ministries also have the goal of initially increasing the proportion of organic food to 20 percent by 2025. However, daycare centers, hospitals, company canteens and prisons have yet to set comparable targets. [5]

The demand for regional food in Berlin and the surrounding area has exceeded supply for years. However, the majority of food produced in Brandenburg ends up on the world market. At the same time, the supply of regional organic food is growing significantly slower than demand. For this reason, local agriculture in Berlin and Brandenburg is to be increasingly promoted in field of action 2 by expanding existing market relationships. For example, food producers and supermarkets can undertake to purchase goods from regional producers. This has many advantages, such as greater social participation and integration, a reduction in delivery routes and an improvement in the regional competitiveness of agriculture. For this reason, the Berlin Food Council is calling for the supply routes between Berlin and Brandenburg to be organized in a more fragmented and decentralized manner and to ensure that food produced in Brandenburg is also purchased.[6] Due to the largely rural, sparsely populated peripheral areas, the Berlin-Brandenburg region could theoretically produce enough conventional food with its available agricultural land to be completely self-sufficient. In combination with a change in diet and the reduction of food waste, purely organic food production could even be compatible with regional self-sufficiency.[7] For this reason, the focus in field of action 2 is on promoting value creation in the region. It would also be possible to develop environmental criteria for public tenders that favor regional producers. However, this conflicts with EU law and will not be discussed in detail in this article due to its complexity.

For some years now, an innovative food industry has been developing in Berlin that is committed to the goal of regional and sustainable agriculture. This has already given rise to new cooperative economic and value creation models, which is why companies and initiatives that provide important socio-ecological services and are committed to a sustainable food system are to be supported in field of action 3.

Field of action 4 focuses on the so-called LebensMittelPunkte in Berlin’s neighborhoods. LebensMittelPunkte provide private individuals and small businesses with a place to store, process and sell food. They also offer people a place to meet, exchange ideas and cook together. In this way, LebensMittelPunkte are intended to promote social integration and a healthy diet in the neighborhoods.[8] Furthermore, regional marketing initiatives, urban gardens and community-supported agriculture are to be supported in field of action 4. Solidarity agriculture is a concept of direct marketing. The costs of a farm are shared between several private households, while they receive a share of the harvest in return.

Field of action 5 comprises nutrition education, which was firmly anchored in the Berlin framework curriculum for teaching back in 2015. The focus is on strengthening nutrition education. This is to be achieved through the introduction of quality standards, access to suitable information materials and an improved exchange of experiences between the stakeholders involved. For example, more school gardens and canteens with their own kitchens can be offered for nutrition education in daycare centres and schools so that pupils can participate in the cultivation and processing of their food.[9] It is also important to sensitize citizens to the consequences of land demand for food policy decisions or structural changes in the food system. This gives citizens a sense of responsibility and shows them that they can promote sustainable and fair agriculture through their consumer behavior.

In 2017, an average of 71 kg of food was thrown away per inhabitant in Berlin. In addition, there are 100,000 tons of food waste in the catering sector.[10] 31% of the production area for food alone could be saved if waste along the supply chain and in household consumption were reduced to zero.[11] Consequently, food waste is to be drastically reduced in field of action 6 by developing a waste prevention concept.

Finally, in field of action 7, the administration would like to live up to its role model function towards citizens and take the goals of the Berlin Nutrition Strategy into account when awarding contracts.

With the Berlin Food Strategy, the Senate Department for Justice and Consumer Protection has initiated the food turnaround. However, there are also critical voices. The Berlin Food Council criticizes, among other things, that it took over a year for the administration to coordinate the departments. It also criticizes the lack of strategic character, as the Berlin Food Strategy only identifies fields of action without defining measurable goals, measures or funding options. For example, an organic quality quota of 100% in Berlin canteens by 2030 at the latest is essential to counteract the effects of conventional agriculture on biodiversity, health, groundwater and climate change. Low quotas such as 20% organic products in federal canteens by 2025 are not ambitious enough, as they can be achieved quickly with staple foods such as potatoes, rice and pasta and do not have a major impact. Without increasing costs, a 60 percent share of organic products in canteens would already be possible today if, for example, the meat on offer were reduced. However, it is not a question of doing without meat completely, but rather of ensuring a reduced but higher quality meat content. All in all, long-term support and in-process advice for stakeholders in the canteen sector is needed to assist them during the conversion process. However, it is to be welcomed that the Berlin Nutrition Strategy will be continued and that the criticism of the Berlin Nutrition Council will be taken into account. [12]

In order to react to new developments, revise existing areas of action and implement concrete measures, work is currently underway on the Berlin Food Strategy 2.0. A second Senate resolution is to be obtained for this purpose. This will open up further opportunities for the Berlin Senate Department for Justice and Consumer Protection to drive forward a sustainable and fair food transition.

Sources:

BUND Landesverband Berlin (2022): Sustainable food transition in Berlin canteens: How does the unpeeled potato get into communal catering? Discussion paper of the BUND sustainability working group. Available: https://www.bund-berlin.de/service/publikationen/detail/publication/diskussionspapier-nachhaltige-ernaehrungswende-in-berliner-kantinen/. Last accessed: 28.08.2023

Demography Portal (2023): Population size in Berlin. Available: https://www.demografie-portal.de/DE/Fakten/bevoelkerungszahl-berlin.html. Retrieved on: 28.08.2023

LebensMittelPunkte (2023). Available at: https://lebensmittelpunkte-berlin.de/. Last accessed on: 01.09.2023

Senate Department for Justice and Consumer Protection (2023): Berlin nutrition strategy. Available at: https://www.berlin.de/ernaehrungsstrategie/. Last accessed: 28.08.2023

Statista (2022): Level and share of greenhouse gas emissions from food production worldwide 1990 and 2015. Available: https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/1275647/umfrage/treibhausgasemissionen-durch-lebensmittelproduktion/ Retrieved on: 30.08.2023

Zasada et al (2019): Food beyond the city – Analyzing foodsheds and self-sufficiency for different food system scenarios in European metropolitan regions. City, Culture and Society. Volume 16, Pages 25-35.

[1] Demography Portal (2023)

[2] Zasada et al. (2019)

[3] Statista (2022)

[4] Senate Department for Justice and Consumer Protection (2023)

[5] BUND Berlin regional association (2022)

[6] BUND Berlin regional association (2022)

[7] Zasada et al. (2019)

[8] LebensMittelPunkte (2023)

[9] BUND Berlin State Association (2022)

[10] Senate Department for Justice and Consumer Protection (2023)

[11] Zasada et al. (2019)

[12] BUND Berlin regional association (2022)