Switzerland Today

Hello from Bern!

It’s almost dinner time here in Switzerland so it’s only fitting that we have food on the mind, and specifically where all those people from Zurich buy all that lovely bread and cheese. And of course, wine, which Swiss President Guy Parmelin would like to see come from the vineyards in his home in Vaud. The master wine grower told his peers at the UN General Assembly this week that there are some important lessons you learn picking grapes above Lake Geneva – the power of solidarity in the face of crisis.

Keystone / Peter Schneider

In the News: Parliament tries to put the new tobacco law to bed and the Covid certificate popularises petitions

• Parliament has hammered out the final sticking points in the new Tobacco Products Law, ending the sale of cigarettes to anyone under 18 throughout the country. Until now, cantons set different age limits, which meant a 16-year-old could just hop over to another canton for a pack of smokes. The new law also bans tobacco advertising in magazines and newspapers aimed at minors, but this didn’t go far enough for supporters of a full tobacco advertising ban. If no final pushback emerges, the new law will come into effect in 2023.
• Geneva authorities have announced plans to map the ammunitionExternal link that has been sleeping for decades at the bottom of Lake Geneva. Thousands of tonnes of bombs, grenades and explosive residues were buried at the bottom of Swiss lakes, especially after World War II. While most of the ammunition is covered by a layer of sediment and therefore doesn’t pose any risk, local experts say the more information on the scale, state and location of the “sleeping ammunition”, the better.
• Many Swiss appear to be channelling their frustrationsExternal link with the Covid-19 certificate into petitions. According to the Tages-Anzeiger, one petition launched two weeks ago calling for Covid testing to remain free has collected some 260,000 signatures, more than most petitions ever see. With the October 1 deadline ending free testing just around the corner, there’s heated debate across Swiss media about whether free testing is part of the problem or solution to our way out of the pandemic.

Keystone / Francois Walschaerts / Pool

Brussels tells Switzerland to pay up.

EU Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič (pictured above) has said that the “the ball is now clearly in the Swiss court” to show political willExternal link after talks on a new framework deal were shelved earlier this year.

In his first appearance since taking over the Swiss dossier, Šefčovič, dubbed “Mr Brussels”, reiterated that good relations with Switzerland is a priority for the 26-member bloc but that “fundamental questions” still need to be clarified to move forward.

One of those fundamental questions is money. Specifically, billions in cohesion payments owed to the EU. It’s important that “Switzerland pay its debts in return for participating in the internal market,” said Šefčovič. While the Swiss parliament is still discussing the second tranche of cohesion payments, Šefčovič is already starting to talk about future contributions, pointing out that another wealthy non-EU member (Norway) already makes regular payments.

In a piece this morning, the Neue Zürcher Zeitung wrote that heExternal link gave the impression that if the country pays to support poorer EU countries, Brussels will help Switzerland – for example to participate in the Horizon Europe research program.

The correspondent from Swiss public television SRF also reacted to the speechExternal link, saying the EU is still deeply frustrated that Switzerland broke off negotiations after seven years. Šefčovič did leave the door open, SRF said, but it’s unclear whether Switzerland is ready to jump through.

© Keystone / Gaetan Bally

If we are what we eat, then people in Zurich are organic milk and fresh-baked bread.

It’s only fitting that a day before the Global Food Systems Summit in New York, the Tages-Anzeiger launches a series on eating habits in Zurich. The first story is based on a study just released by city authorities called unambiguously “What’s Zurich eatingExternal link?” Apparently, milk and carrots top the organic selection.

However, the study sheds perhaps less light on what the people in Zurich eat and more on where they buy it. A whopping 55% comes from retailers, followed by 40% from restaurants and pubs. The 67 bakeries in the city also seem to do pretty well.

However, this leaves a very small percentage directly from local producers. This might not be too surprising for Switzerland’s largest city, but it is something Zurich is trying to rectify with its push for sustainable nutrition launched in 2019. Local producers, the city writes, play an important pioneering role in making the local food system more sustainable. 

In the last few years the city has been investing in community gardens, direct marketing from producers, farmer cooperatives and a host of other initiatives to shorten the food supply chain and support local food growers.

Where do you buy your food? Do you try to buy from local producers? Is your city doing anything innovative to promote more sustainable food? Feel free to reach out: [e-mail]