Swiss parliament rejects food initiative
After the Swiss House of Representatives, the Senate on Tuesday rejected the food initiative as too extreme.
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The popular initiative, submitted by a citizens’ committee, calls in particular for agricultural policy to be adapted to encourage the production and consumption of plant-based rather than animal-based foodstuffs.
+ Swiss increasingly cutting down on meat
The text also seeks to increase Switzerland’s degree of self-sufficiency from 46% to at least 70%, to preserve groundwater resources and to promote sustainable agriculture and the agri-food sector. These requirements must be met within ten years.
Parliamentarian Peter Hegglin, speaking on behalf of the committee, pointed out that achieving 70% within such a timeframe was unrealistic. He added that some of the initiative’s demands had been incorporated into the work on the 2030+ agricultural policy.
The government is also opposed to the text.
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Adapted from French by AI/ts
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