Residents of Germany love meat, consider "superfood" a temporary fad and call for better treatment of animals they eat with appetite
According to "Russkaya Germaniya", only 38% of Germans cook every day (a year ago, 41% of residents of the Federal Republic of Germany cooked daily). The main requirement for food is that it be prepared quickly.
The Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture recently presented the current "Nutrition Report" (Ernährungsreport) in Berlin. The first such document, entitled "Germany, How It Eats" (Deutschland, wie es isst), was presented last year. The current one, like last year's, is based on a representative survey of a thousand residents of the country. The Forsa Institute for Public Opinion Research asked residents of large cities and the German provinces of various ages – men, women, teenagers, the elderly – to share information about their eating habits.
Agriculture Minister Christian Schmidt, presenting the "Nutrition Report," said that food is "more than just a meal" and promised that the survey results would influence the ministry's policy. The two main conclusions from the research results from the minister's point of view are: Germans highly value the importance of raising their children in the spirit of proper, healthy nutrition, which entails the need to take more seriously the control of the menu offered by schools and kindergartens, and also count on better treatment of animals they consume, and pay enough attention to how they were kept, what they were fed, how they were transported and slaughtered.
79% of residents of the Federal Republic of Germany consider it necessary to introduce a single state label for meat that meets modern ethical and quality requirements for agricultural products, 87% of respondents demand improved animal welfare conditions. Germans ranked livestock welfare higher (70% consider it important) than meat quality (69%). Nine out of ten residents of the country agree with higher prices for meat from animals kept in better conditions.
Even more important to Germans is children's nutrition: 90% of residents of Germany want state standards for the food children receive in kindergartens and schools. Residents of large cities also express a willingness to pay more for this food if it is prepared from organic products. Also, 90% of Germans would like to see a "healthy nutrition" subject in the school curriculum.
At the same time, such elements as chia, goji, acai – various imported berries and roots that have become the main support of followers of a healthy lifestyle around the world – are viewed skeptically in Germany. Survey participants classify the environmentally friendly food additives that have received the general name "superfood" as temporary manifestations of fashion and have no intention of betting on them.