LebensMittelPunkt concept becomes part of food strategy proposals in Germany

‘The German land of Brandenburg is to get a food strategy. That is what the county’s coalition agreement says.’ This March, Ernährungsrat Brandenburg, the food policy council of the land of Brandenburg, submitted its proposals for the strategy process to the state government. The paper is the result of a total of nine workshop discussions and numerous talks with stakeholders of the Brandenburg food system, representatives of authorities and local politics, educational institutions and civil society.

It states: ‘The diversity of the topics [of the proposal] makes it clear that if we want to change the food system, we need EVERYONE – farmers, processors, traders, consumers, government employees and many actors from the education, health and civil society sectors… As different as their interests may be, at the end of the day, there are people behind every farm, every agricultural cooperative, every bakery, every catering company, every training company and initiative. People with diverse experiences, with hopes and fears, and with many creative ideas about our food system… It was clear to all those involved in the project that only through changes on the most diverse levels, both large and small, can a food system be created that is sustainable and fit for the future’.

In its participatory workshop process, held in September and October 2020, the Ernährungsrat Brandenburg identified six important themes of which one is the development of ‘regionale Wertschöpfungsräume [regional value creation spaces]’. Within this, one of the food policy council’s recommendations is to support LebensMittelPunkte as a framework condition. The concept of LebensMittelPunkte – specified locations supporting the local food system by enabling the trade of food (products), as well as their storage, processing, consumption and waste recycling – was previously introduced to the City of Berlin by the AG Stadt & Ernährung of which Katrin Bohn is a founding member.

The Food Polixy Council Brandenburg is the umbrella association of regional food policy councils in the land of Brandenburg. At the moment, it brings together five such councils – Havelland, Ostbrandenburg, Potsdam, Prignitz-Ruppin, Spreewald – who pledged to work together for a sustainable food system in Brandenburg.

Ernährungsrat Brandenburg is here.

The Ernährungsrat’s recommendations to state government can be found here.

For information on the concept LebensMittelPunkte see here.

Image: Cover page of the Ernährungsrat’s recommendations to state government for the development of the Brandenburg Food Strategy (source: Ernährungsrat Brandenburg www 2021)