Germany’s Development Minister has called on consumers to eat less meat, arguing that increasing grain production and reducing livestock numbers will help tackle shortages that have been brought about by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

German politician aims to combat food shortages

On a global scale, Russia and Ukraine are among the main global exporters of wheat and grain. Now, because of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the price of wheat has risen dramatically. Experts have even warned of shortages in developing countries, leading to the price of food in supermarkets rising significantly.

To try and combat this, Germany’s Economic Cooperation and Development Minister Svenja Schulze (SPD) has called on consumers to eat less meat. "60 percent of the corn produced worldwide is fed to animals, in the EU it is similar with wheat," Schulze said. “It would help the grain supply in developing and emerging countries in the medium and long term if we in rich countries would eat less animal products.”

Schulze went on to say that Germany could free up 1 million hectares of arable land (about a 10th of the total arable land in Germany) if pork production was reduced by 30 percent, freeing up capacity to produce “5 million tons of grain”. The minister argued that, since supply is faltering, consumption of wheat and grain needed to be controlled. "Grain belongs first and foremost on the table - without going through the feeding trough."

Greenpeace call for biofuel ban

To further reduce Germany’s wheat and grain consumption, Schulze also called for a reduction of the proportion of corn and grain in biofuel. The minister said she wanted to check if there would be “scope for quick adjustments,” and emphasised that, in light of the looming food crisis, Germany needs grain to feed its citizens.

Similarly, the Greenpeace environmental protection organisation has called on the federal government to ban biofuel, in order to try and combat the impending global food shortage. “Fresh oil, such as rapeseed, soybean or palm oil, does not belong in the tank, but on the dining table,” said Greenpeace agriculture expert Martin Hofstetter. Hofstetter argued that the 12 litres of rapeseed oil that ends up being used by individual drivers to fuel their vehicles each year would "easily be enough for everyone to feed themselves for a year."

Greenpeace also agreed with Schulze’s comments regarding the reduction of meat consumption, arguing that the EU could completely replace Ukrainian exports if it were to do so. "If we had 10 percent fewer animals in Europe, we would automatically have enough wheat at our disposal to replace all of Ukraine's grain export losses." The EU produces 160 million tons of grain to be used as animal feed so, if there was a ten percent reduction, the EU would have 16 million tons of grain that could be used for food; exactly the amount Ukraine exports to the world.