01 March 2016
The Christian Democratic Party in Germany’s northernmost state, Schleswig-Holstein, has petitioned the Social Democrat-led state government to push for the inclusion of more pork dishes in the region’s public canteens. According to the leader of the CDU faction in the state parliament, Daniel Günther, “more and more cafeterias, nurseries and schools are removing pork from their offerings in order to respect religious customs. The CDU deems this to be wrong.” Günther also asserted that pork was part of a healthy diet according to German culinary custom.
Whilst on the face of it this initiative resembles a controversial move by the Danish city of Randers which had made pork a mandatory dish in the city’s public institutions, the CDU of Schleswig-Holstein merely advocates a ‘right to pork’. Nor was the initiative able to demonstrate the share of pork in public canteens had dropped in a statistically significant manner. Only anecdotal evidence recounting the removal of pork from the menus of several local institutions was given.
