MWith calls for MPs to take their recommendations seriously, representatives of the Citizens' Assembly for Nutrition have handed over their report to the Bundestag. “We are excited to see whether or not which of our recommendations find their way into the specialist committees and are even implemented,” said a participant on behalf of the group at the handover to Bundestag President Bärbel Bas (SPD) on Tuesday evening in Berlin. One participant expressed the wish that the citizens' report “doesn't disappear in a drawer, but rather becomes part of current policy”.
After the handover, some citizens' assembly participants discussed individual suggestions in the report with the MPs present, such as the exact design of a mandatory food label that takes health and sustainability into account in addition to animal welfare, or the demand for free lunch for children and young people in schools and daycare centers.
Künast praises the comprehensive approach
The Citizens' Assembly had made this demand its number one priority – fully aware that education is actually a state matter. “We citizens want to have that,” answered a participant at the closing event at the beginning of the year in response to a question from Bundestag President Bas.
The Green Party politician and former Agriculture Minister Renate Künast praised on Tuesday evening that the Citizens' Assembly had brought together educational, social and nutritional policy on the issue of school meals. The concept of all-day school “in fact” also means that children get something to eat there. The federal government must therefore consider how it can support and participate in the financing, said Künast, who took part in the event as a member of the Committee for Food and Agriculture.
Praise also came from SPD politician Anke Hennig, who worked as a childminder in a primary school until she was elected to the Bundestag a good two years ago. She herself experienced how children were discriminated against because their lunch was paid for by the social welfare office, or that children from poor families only had a sandwich for lunch. It is great that the Citizens' Assembly brought up this issue. “All I can tell you is, you have my vote,” she added.
The FDP politician Martin Gassner-Herz said that politics must absolutely “take up the spirit” of the proposal. However, he advocated not providing free lunch to all children. “I would like to think we focus on the kids who need it,” he said. Children from families at risk of poverty must be given access to a meal in communal catering “without discrimination”, for example with payment cards.
To this end, the existing instrument of services for education and participation could be further developed “instead of wasting money with a shotgun,” said the FDP politician, who is also a member of the family committee. He was “very confident that we can do this,” he said, referring to his version of the proposal.
He received support from his party colleague Ingo Bodtke. He said the idea of a free lunch was nice, but not feasible. “If it doesn't cost anything, it's worth nothing.” He warned of food waste, which would be encouraged because parents would then no longer make an effort to de-register their children if they didn't need food on certain days.
A positive personal experience for many
One of the moderators objected that these questions had already been intensively discussed in the Citizens' Assembly over the past few months. A member of the Citizens' Council's scientific advisory board, who had supported the work of the committee with his specialist knowledge, became clearer. Melanie Speck, Professor of Socioeconomics in Household and Business at Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences, urged MPs to read citizens' suggestions in detail.
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