Luxembourgers' eating habits under fire at conference

A public conference on Luxembourger's eating habits, entitled "What will we eat tomorrow?", was held in the auditorium of Aline-Mayrisch secondary school in Luxembourg City on Friday evening. The event was jointly organised by the Ministry for Consumer Protection and the Ministry of Agriculture, Viticulture and Rural Development.

According to cardiologist Dr Philippe Müller, who spoke at the conference, Luxembourg residents "generally eat badly. Too much fat, too much sugar, and too many calories." He argued that from a medical perspective, something urgently needs to change.

The cardiologist labelled the trend as an "epidemic" comparable to the one in the United States and made the case that too many people in Luxembourg are overweight and therefore at greater risk of becoming ill.

Although a greater number of people have become more aware of their eating habits and, for instance, reduced their meat consumption, Dr Müller says more has to be done: "What does it mean to eat better? Most people don't really know what that means. We simply have a vision in our heads by which we absolutely want to keep on eating what we always consumed."

This is the wrong approach, explained Dr Müller, who believes that people have to fundamentally change their eating habits and reduce consumption of meat, dairy, and processed foods.

According to Caritas spokesperson Carole Reckinger, a healthy diet is also tied to financial means: "We see that a growing number of people in Luxembourg are at risk of facing poverty. This means that their grocery budget is continuously shrinking and that does play a role. Healthy foods are sometimes much more expensive than ready-made meals, for example, so another factor to take into consideration is time."
Chef Carlo Sauber objected to this statement: "As a chef, I say this is an issue of organisation instead. Appliances such as pressure cookers, steamers, freezers and other gadgets make it possible for people to have a healthy, balanced diet."

However, Sauber agreed there was a need to change the country's eating habits, suggesting households could eat less meat without becoming full vegetarians. He dismissed the option of eating insects, saying that in his eyes, it was not the future.

Video report in Luxembourgish