No more low-grade meat, protesters urge
January 25, 2020
In Hamburg, Berlin and several other German cities, Greenpeace activists gathered on Saturday to protest cheap supermarket meat.
The rallies follow the release of a report by the environmental organization on Friday claiming that 88% of meat in German supermarkets comes from non-environmentally-friendly origins and from animals kept in painful and often illegal conditions.
Greenpeace released the information after making inquiries at Lidl, Aldi, Edeka, Penny, Netto and Rewe, some of the biggest German supermarkets. The rearing standard of most meat at German supermarkets was rated, on a scale of 1 to 4, at 1 or 2.
1 is the lowest possible legal rating of animal containment, with animals often kept in poor or tight conditions, while 4 indicates a "premium" level of animal care.
'Cheap meat damages the environment'
Protesters have now taken to the streets to inform shoppers about the poor quality of meat in German supermarkets. The 1 to 4 designation system has been criticized by activists.
"This designation is an important step, but it is not enough to ensure adequate animal protection," Greenpeace agriculture expert Stephanie Töwe told the DPA news agency.
Read more: Explainer: What are Germany's farmers so angry about?
"Cheap meat damages the environment, the climate and health," she added. "Businesses simply have to take this meat off the shelves."
Following protests by farmers in Germany over the last few months, several German politicians have called for greater provisions for local, high-quality meat production in Germany.
dpa contributed to this report