Lukas from PlastX reports from the Second Congress of the German-speaking Food Councils from 23rd to 25th November in Frankfurt/Main. …

All over the world, citizens organize themselves in food councils in order to publicly represent civil society positions and demands for a sustainable food system and to help them to achieve political validity. The agenda of the Second Congress of the Food Councils reflected that plastic waste reduction and sustainable packaging use are an important part of a more sustainable food supply of our cities.

More than 150 representatives of 35 food councils from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands met in Frankfurt from 23rd to 25th of November to discuss “Ways to Food Democracy”.

In three days of diverse program including lectures, workshops and plenary discussions the participants exchanged their experiences and plans for a sustainable transformation of urban food supply. As member of the Frankfurter working group on zero waste I was co-organizing a workshop titled “#zerowaste – How can the acceptance and use of reusable containers be increased in our cities?” In this workshop we discussed and exchanged our ideas and activities with participants from other cities and food councils working on similar topics. Main focus of discussion was the question of how the reuse of containers can be promoted successfully in order to mainstream reuse practices. As outcome we enhanced our idea of a short information folder which should collect and spread the most basic information’s for shop owners, staff and consumers.

The network meeting closed on Sunday with the adoption of a “Frankfurt Declaration”. The Frankfurt Declaration should serve as a guideline for the work of the Food Councils. It calls for a radical change in the way we produce, consume and value food:

  • All people should have access to good and healthy food.
  • We need transparent prices that take account of environmental damage caused by production, distribution and consumption of food.
  • Consumers are not solely responsible for sustainability; we need new political framework conditions according to eco-social criteria.
  • The whole declaration can be found on the website of the Food Council Frankfurt.

Frankfurter Erklärung der Ernährungsräte vom 25.11.2018 (Ernährungsdemokratie jetzt!)