Apples, pears or pasta – Agriculture Minister Özdemir wants to increase the supply and demand for organic products – for example with more organic food in canteens. Criticism comes from Foodwatch: The organic sector “is and remains a niche”.
Federal Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir is convinced that the market for organic products still has potential. The desired growth opens up additional opportunities for the entire food industry, said the Green politician. A strategy presented by his ministry provides for various measures to achieve this.
This includes increased organic research to increase yields from organic farming. Consumers should be informed more precisely about the benefits of organic production for environmental and animal protection. An important lever should also be more organic food in canteens and restaurants.
The goal of the traffic light coalition is to expand the share of organic agriculture to 30 percent of total agricultural land by 2030. Most recently, the proportion of organically managed fields and meadows had increased further – but only slightly to 11.2 percent as of the end of 2022. 14.2 percent of all farms now work under the organic label.
Özdemir: Nobody has to switch to organic
Organic is “a functioning business model” with sales of 15.3 billion euros in 2022, emphasized Özdemir. The aim is to achieve the 30 percent not only in production, but throughout the entire value chain up to the consumer. 30 percent organic is an ambitious goal. Now there is a roadmap so that it can become reality.
An “organic information offensive” with posters and videos is also scheduled to start next week. The Agriculture Minister said with regard to farmers: “Nobody has to switch to organic.” It is an option for farms. Organic production methods are “a driver of innovation for conventional agriculture as well.”
Organic farming also has an anti-inflationary effect if price increases for synthetic fertilizer do not materialize, said the minister. Chemical-synthetic fertilizers and pesticides are taboo in organic farming.
Foodwatch: 30 percent target is “a fairy tale from the Greens”
Environmental and consumer advocates called for significantly more far-reaching measures. The consumer organization Foodwatch criticized the 30 percent target as “a fairy tale from the Greens”. Managing director Chris Methmann said: “Organic is and remains a niche, and it is an illusion that anything will change in the near future, especially because of the persistently high food prices.” Instead of using effective laws to make all agriculture more sustainable, animal-friendly and environmentally friendly, Özdemir wants to bolster the puny organic market with advertising posters and educational campaigns.
The environmental organization WWF explained that the strategy contains steps in the right direction, but leaves potential unused. The federal government should legally enshrine and promote a proportion of organic products of 30 percent by 2025 and 50 percent by 2030 in all communal catering facilities such as canteens. It is also questionable what a strategy can achieve that is obviously not supported by the entire federal government.
Agriculture minister against entrenching genetic engineering
Özdemir responded to the criticism and said that he would of course have preferred it if it had been a strategy for the entire federal government. “Unfortunately that wasn’t possible.” He referred to the negative attitude of the FDP-led research ministry because it also wanted to anchor new genetic technologies in the strategy. But the organic strategy is not the place for this. There is a functioning market in which neither manufacturers nor consumers demand this, said Özdemir. Therefore, the ministry now has a strategy.