Grill range check: far from climate-friendly

During the barbecue season, local supermarkets still rely on a tempting offer: cheap meat. 

In the four-week investigation period, 90 percent of the 196 barbecue products with discounts examined were of animal origin, 95 percent of which came from conventional animal husbandry. Every fifth advertised product came from abroad. Only every tenth product was vegetarian or vegan.

"These are the wrong incentives and signals: the flyers are full of special discounts on meat instead of promoting regional organic produce and plant-based alternatives. This makes it difficult to make climate-friendly and healthy choices, even though more and more people want to eat sustainably," says Pegah Bayaty, spokesperson for sustainable nutrition at WWF Austria.

In Austria, annual meat consumption averages 59 kilos per capita, which is three to five times higher than recommended by environmental and health experts. The WWF is therefore calling for a fundamental rethink on the part of supermarkets and politicians towards a sustainable change in diet:

"Due to the rise in prices, the German government should abolish VAT on fruit, vegetables and pulses and present a package of measures for a sustainable food transition. So far, little to nothing has happened here," criticizes Pegah Bayaty from WWF.

 

Austrian meat, but feed from the rainforest

The WWF also criticizes the fact that the heavily discounted conventional meat from Austria is often made from soya imported from other regions of the world. At the same time, supermarkets only very rarely advertised organic products (share of five percent).

"Only organic farming guarantees feeding without rainforest soy. In contrast, conventionally reared animals - especially pigs - are usually fed imported soy, for which species-rich habitats such as tropical rainforests and savannahs are destroyed worldwide. In addition, animal welfare standards are significantly lower," explains Pegah Bayaty from WWF