Initiative for a more self-sufficient Swiss food sector submitted
Select your language
Generated with artificial intelligence.
Listening: Initiative for a more self-sufficient Swiss food sector submitted
Swiss citizens are likely to vote on a proposal for a more plant-based and self-sufficient food production sector after a people’s initiative was submitted in Bern.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA
Français
fr
L’initiative “Pour une alimentation sûre” soumise au peuple
Original
The initiative “For food security – by strengthening sustainable domestic production, more plant-based food and clean drinking water” was submitted to the Federal Chancellery on Friday with 113,103 signatures; 100,000 are needed to force a public vote.
Franziska Herren from the “Clean Water for All” association and six others are behind the initiative. Herren was the driving force behind a drinking water initiative rejected by voters in June 2021.
The new initiative calls for a level of self-sufficiency in food supply of at least 70%. The current level of 50% dependence on imports from abroad is due to the highly subsidised production of animal-based foodstuffs in Switzerland, and not due to a lack of land, the initiators claim.
Some 60% of Swiss arable land is used to grow animal feed. If more focus was placed on plant-based foods, many more calories could be produced per hectare, they say.
The initiative also calls for the safeguarding of two vital agricultural production bases: biodiversity and soil fertility. These “free services” provided by nature are being destroyed by fertilisers and pesticides, writes the committee.
The committee also claims that neglected water protection schemes, drinking water wells that have been shut down due to nitrates and pesticides, and increased drought are increasingly jeopardising the supply of clean drinking water.
Adapted from German by DeepL/dos
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
Should Switzerland take measures to support its struggling industries?
Industrial policies are back in fashion, not only in the United States but also in the EU. Should Switzerland, where various industries are struggling, draw inspiration from such policies?
Switzerland increasingly a target for people smuggling and trafficking
This content was published on
Switzerland is increasingly being targeted by organized crime. This also applies to commercial people smuggling, the fastest growing criminal market in Europe.
Swiss forests better equipped against storms 25 years after Lothar
This content was published on
Twenty-five years ago, Hurricane Lothar toppled trees like dominoes in Switzerland. Forests today are better prepared to cope with such an exceptional event, say experts.
This content was published on
The Locarno Film Festival is considering moving from the beginning of August to the second half of July for its 80th edition in 2027.
Council of Europe head Alain Berset visits Georgia
This content was published on
The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Alain Berset, is visiting Georgia, which has been rocked by a political crisis, from Wednesday.
Swiss politician who shot at Jesus faces criminal proceedings
This content was published on
The Zurich public prosecutor's office has opened criminal proceedings against politician Sanija Ameti. It is investigating whether she disrupted freedom of religion and worship.
Switzerland must be able to control immigration, says head of business federation
This content was published on
Switzerland must be able to control immigration itself if it "exceeds the tolerable limits", says Christoph Mäder, president of Economiesuisse, the Swiss Business Federation.
This content was published on
The film Reinas by Klaudia Reynicke, a Swiss-Peruvian-Spanish co-production, has missed out on an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.