Germany starts citizens' council to advise on nutrition

Bundestag President Bärbel Bas selected 160 citizens for a citizens' council. This citizen panel will hold discussions on nutrition and issue an advisory report with recommendations.

The 160 selected citizens are expected to represent a cross-section of society, taking into account quotas for gender, urban and rural distribution and eating habits. The panel will consider issues of nutrition.

Nutrition in transition

The Citizens Council was created in May with the mandate "Nutrition in Transition: Between Private Affair and State Responsibility." The citizen council is the result of a commitment by the coalition government to use new forms of citizen dialogue to counter the alienation between citizens and politics and contribute to the objectification of controversial debates.

Selection process

The selection process, reminiscent of a lottery draw, was preceded by an invitation to nearly 20,000 randomly selected citizens from 82 randomly selected municipalities in June. About 2,000 showed interest, and an algorithm identified 1,000 possible compositions for the citizens' council, based on the established criteria.

Citizens Council members will spend three weekends and several online sessions discussing what aspects of food and nutrition the government should regulate. In doing so, they will be guided by a neutral moderator.

Recommendations

In February 2024, the citizens' council will issue a report with specific recommendations, which will then be discussed in parliament and committees. It is up to parliamentarians to determine how visible the results of the citizens' council will be and what will be done with the recommendations.

Tagesschau.de