Greenpeace calls for higher VAT on meat and milk
Agriculture Minister Özdemir declares war on cheap meat
The new Minister of Agriculture, Cem Özdemir, has declared war on junk prices: Food should become more expensive. But Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder doesn’t like that at all. And the social associations are also concerned. How are people with little incomes supposed to pay for that?
Greenpeace supports the push against dumping prices for food by Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir. The value added tax on meat and dairy products should be increased and consumers should be relieved of fruit and vegetables.
FAccording to the environmental protection organization Greenpeace, meat and dairy products should be subject to higher taxes. “The new federal government should adjust the value added tax for meat and dairy products to the regular rate of 19 percent. In return, it can lower the VAT on fruit and vegetables or eliminate it entirely, ”said Greenpeace agricultural expert Matthias Lambrecht of the Funke media group (Thursday). “This would relieve consumers and create incentives for more environmentally friendly and climate-friendly consumption of plant-based foods.”
At the same time, the farms needed targeted support for improved animal husbandry, said Lambrecht. Those consumers who consumed meat and dairy products should pay for this through a tax or levy.
“The consumption of meat and dairy products in Germany causes environmental and climate damage amounting to around 6 billion euros a year. The real costs are not reflected in the price, ”said the Greenpeace expert. The consumption of animal products is also promoted “with more than 5 billion euros annually because only the reduced VAT rate of 7 percent is levied on these products”.
It is not about telling people what they should eat, but simply about enforcing the polluter pays principle if the market fails, said Lambrecht.
Özdemir triggers food price debate
Greenpeace is thus also behind Federal Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir (Greens), who criticized “junk prices” for food in an interview at the weekend – and thus started a debate. Özdemir denounced dumping prices for food and agricultural products and told the “Bild am Sonntag”: “There must be no more junk prices for food. They are driving farms to ruin, preventing more animal welfare, promoting species extinction and polluting the climate. I want to change that. “
The Paritätische Wohlfahrtsverband thereupon demanded social compensation for the poor if food should become more expensive to protect the environment and farms. The managing director of the association, Ulrich Schneider, told WELT on Monday with a view to welfare recipients that corresponding price increases would “necessarily have to go hand in hand with a significant increase in the standard rates. You cannot separate the ecological and the social. It’s only eco-social, otherwise you lose the support of the population. “
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