No, the "container" must not go unpunished in the future either

The initiative sounds very sympathetic: Minister of Agriculture Cem Özdemir (Greens) has revived the discussion about so-called containers. The aim is to “rescue” food from supermarket dumpsters. Özdemir wants to look for ways to make such actions go unpunished. Intuitively, the matter seems clear: anyone who fishes valuable food out of the garbage is right.

But things are not that simple. It is not for nothing that all attempts to achieve formal impunity have failed in the Bundesrat and before the Federal Constitutional Court. Because in the few cases that have ended up in court, it's not about an apple being taken out of a wastepaper basket. Behind the containers are mostly activists for an alternative, consumption-critical lifestyle.

Supermarket operators are bothered by the fact that such organized, self-proclaimed food rescuers regularly break into fenced-in areas or break into locked containers. The companies fear liability risks if someone should get poisoned from the food - especially since it is not clear to outsiders why the goods ended up in the garbage.

It is understandable that the supermarket employees do not want to tolerate it when locks are repeatedly broken open or spoiled goods disappear unchecked. Therefore, it would be harmful to try to re-regulate this particular case legally.

If a perpetrator makes it to court at all, the judges judge with a sense of proportion and impose, at most, minor penalties. Nothing is known about convictions of homeless people who act out of necessity. A recent report by the Bundestag's scientific service also shows that legal practice in neighboring European countries is very similar.

A new regulation is not only unnecessary, it also threatens the successful attempts to reduce food waste in a controlled way. Many providers sell their leftovers at reduced prices via apps such as “Too Good to Go”.

In addition, all major retailers and many restaurateurs supply the food banks. That's always better than making leftovers freely available via containers - and it's far more humane for recipients in need. The move towards containers, which Özdemir wants to talk about in the government, should therefore disappear from the cabinet table as soon as possible.