Politics

Germany Has Banned Meat and Fish at Official Functions

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6 March 2017

By Bronwen

It’s a bad time to be a meat-lover in Germany. Meat is now banned in buffets at official Government functions in an attempt for politicians to “practise what they preach”.

The Federal Minister for the Environment, Barbara Hendricks, is the one responsible for this controversial decision and has faced backlash from a lot of German politicians who accused her of trying to force vegetarianism on others. The argument for the ban was not actually related to vegetarian lifestyles or animal cruelty but instead it was centred around the impact meat has on the environment.

It’s a known fact that producing meat is a lot more straining than plants on the environment and the earth’s resources but politicians aren’t sure that this approach is the best one to take to persuade the public to consume less meat.

The Green party in Germany has suffered before as a result of its vegetarian schemes. In 2013, during the run up to the German elections, it proposed that once a week, canteens would not be allowed to serve any meat or fish. This policy was the one that got the blame for their disappointing election results on election day.

Germany is one of the most successful countries when it comes to environmental sustainability but for some Germans, this forced vegetarianism seems a little too far.

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