Germany’s agriculture minister, Christian Schmidt, has issued an “eat, eat, eat” message to consumers as a short term response to the Russian ban on imports from the EU.
While EU farm ministers are due to attend an extraordinary agriculture council meeting in Brussels on Friday this week (September 5), Minister Schmidt decided on a bit of immediate advice during a German radio interview today. He urged consumers to more fruit and vegetables, in particular, to combat the impact of the Russian ban.
He also said that while the ban was obviously disruptive to global food markets, he believed the situation remained manageable for EU producers.
Friday’s Council meeting, requested by the Italian Minister Maurizio Martina, in line with Italy currently holding the Council presidency, will focus on the “urgent need to identify joint actions to counter the Russian embargo on European agri-food products”.
“The Italian Presidency intends to determine concrete initiatives to support the agri-food sectors most closely concerned,” added Minister Martina.