When the Bremen citizens decided on the Biostadt program in January 2015, the goals were big. Within ten years, Bremen should become a pioneer of organic farming and promote healthy nutrition for the people of Bremen.
Leader in Germany
On Monday Bremen was due this initiative named “Best European Organic City” by the European Union.
Biostadt Bremen, which means “actively promoting the establishment and expansion of ecological food value chains in the region,” explains Ramona Schlee, press spokeswoman for Environment Senator Kathrin Moosdorf.
The 2025 Action Plan was also decided eight years ago. This provides, for example, for the municipality’s public catering to be gradually converted to up to 100 percent organic products. Moosdorf says they are on schedule there. The initiative has made Bremen the front runner nationwide. At 37 percent, Bremen has the highest proportion of organically farmed land of all federal states; last year it was 33 percent.
Europe sees Bremen
Now the program has made waves across Europe. In addition to Bremen, Madrid and Lisbon were also nominated. The fact that they were able to prevail against such well-known competition shows “how hard people have worked for sustainable agriculture in Bremen in recent years,” said Moosdorf at the EU Organic Awards ceremony. Those honor projects that make a significant contribution to the climate, environment and biodiversity. “This award means a lot to our city.”
However, the goals would not yet be achieved with the award. Once the action plan has been implemented, things should continue, explains Schlee. Part of an organic city is that it actively develops. The next step is to develop a nationwide nutrition strategy. It doesn’t just take public facilities with communal catering into account. It is intended to support the change towards sustainable nutrition throughout society.
