German Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir has called for healthier food in schools, daycare centres and canteens during debate in parliament on Thursday over the government's nutrition strategy.
"Food determines life chances. It starts with the youngest children," Özdemir, from the Green Party, told lawmakers in Berlin. "That's why it should be as easy as possible for everyone to eat well and healthily if they want to."
He argued that healthy food should be available to everyone, regardless of where a person's family might come from, where in Germany they live or how wealthy they are.
Özdemir said that 17 million people eat in communal catering facilities every day, of which 6 million are children and young people in daycare centres and schools.
Decisions about what ends up on their plates is "a huge opportunity," Özdemir said.
He said current trends have pointed toward healthier and more nutritious food, not because of good government policy but because individuals are making choices themselves.
He decried political efforts to wage a "culture war over food."
Efforts to change diets in Germany, and particularly shift toward less meat, have been met with outcry from some quarters, particularly conservatives, who argue that sausage, pork roasts and other dishes are part of the German way of life.
"People are paying more attention to health, the environment and animal welfare. Many people eat less meat today, but as a conscious choice," the minister said.
Germany's centre-left coalition government adopted a nutrition strategy in January. Among other things, it aims to reduce sugar, fat and salt in food - especially for children - and also to encourage more plant-based food with less meat.
The strategy also calls for reducing food waste.
A proposal to restrict the advertising of unhealthy food to children under the age of 14 has been caught in negotiations among coalition ministers for months.