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She is more than one of the 2569 inhabitants of Wiedlisbach BE: Franziska Herren is the most famous citizen of the village in Oberaargau. The meeting point is the wild romantic garden of their cottage. She often reads and works here. “And when I’m sitting under our walnut tree, I can turn off my batteries and recharge — that’s my place of strength,” she says.
The 56-year-old has and needs energy: as a private individual without financially strong lobby groups, she launched three initiatives: first more than ten years ago “Mühleberg vom Netz”, then in 2017 the drinking water initiative and now the initiative for more food security. The collection of signatures will start at the beginning of June. Why does the “Jeanne d’Arc of the water” – as her neighbor calls her – do this? After one of the dirtiest election battles in Swiss political history – for clean drinking water, of all places.
Not enough of destroyed posters, stage cancellations and death threats? No fear?
Franziska gentlemen: I learned a lot about the system, the communication and the people. The worst thing for me would be if I let go of something out of fear, even though I know how important it is.
The fitness trainer with her own studio is a mother of two adult children. Almost on her own, she collected more than 100,000 signatures for the drinking water initiative, which was rejected at the ballot box in 2021. During the voting campaign, she was threatened and insulted and sometimes required personal protection.
The fitness trainer with her own studio is a mother of two adult children. Almost on her own, she collected more than 100,000 signatures for the drinking water initiative, which was rejected at the ballot box in 2021. During the voting campaign, she was threatened and insulted and sometimes required personal protection.
New adversity looms: now you want to re-educate the Swiss population to become vegan.
(laughs) No, not at all. We simply want to create a new balance between the production of plant and animal food in the interest of the environment, the climate and our food security. No type of diet is excluded.
Like the SVP, they fight for a higher degree of self-reliance.
With the difference that the SVP would like to maintain livestock farming at the expense of ecological measures.
And what do you want?
We want to strengthen sustainable domestic production with biodiversity and soil fertility and thus increase Switzerland’s net self-sufficiency rate from 50 to at least 70 percent. To this end, the federal government should promote more plant-based food and gear agriculture and the food industry accordingly. At the moment, 82 percent of the 2.8 billion subsidies go to the production of animal food and only 18 percent to plant-based food.
Don’t like grilling a juicy steak in the summer?
As a child I was a vegetarian, although my parents ate meat. But for the environment, the climate and the food security of the growing population, more vegetable alternatives or vegetables on the grill are needed. Because today 60 percent of domestic farmland is used to grow animal feed – such as corn and grain – and an additional 1.2 million tons of animal feed is imported. This fodder cultivation competes directly with human food and weakens food security at home and abroad. If you grow food – for example legumes or grains – for people on arable land instead of animal feed, you can produce many more calories per hectare. Switzerland’s meadows and pastures, on the other hand, are suitable for grassland meat and milk production.
Plant-based food is booming, it’s a huge market. Is your initiative necessary?
Yes absolutely! More than 60 percent of the population already eat flexitarian and eat less animal food in the interest of the environment and animal welfare. However, the raw materials for this environmentally and climate-conscious growth market for plant-based foods are almost exclusively imported. This is due to the subsidy policy, the production and consumption of animal over plant-based food is massively preferred. As a result, a plant-based bratwurst, which requires less water and land to produce, costs up to 1.5 times more than an animal-based bratwurst.
They demand a reversal.
Yes, because the current agricultural and subsidy policy is irresponsible. It prevents the necessary transition to sustainable climate- and environmentally conscious production and nutrition, which is also demanded by science. Hence our initiative.
The fitness trainer with her own studio is a mother of two adult children. Almost on her own, she collected more than 100,000 signatures for the drinking water initiative, which was rejected at the ballot box in 2021. During the voting campaign, she was threatened and insulted and sometimes required personal protection.
The fitness trainer with her own studio is a mother of two adult children. Almost on her own, she collected more than 100,000 signatures for the drinking water initiative, which was rejected at the ballot box in 2021. During the voting campaign, she was threatened and insulted and sometimes required personal protection.
Our ecosystems and clean drinking water…
… are the greatest treasure we have. And completely free. We have to stop destroying them with our tax dollars. In the fight against climate change, pesticides or fertilizers are of no use to us. A political rethink is needed. The population must show openly and honestly how Swiss meat and chicken are produced. But the advertisement is silent about the environmental and health consequences of the use of antibiotics and imported feed in Swiss livestock farming.
Can you be more specific.
In Swiss chicken and egg production, the use of antibiotics has more than doubled between 2020 and 2021. Many animals are even treated with reserve antibiotics because conventional antibiotics no longer work. This leads to more and more resistant bacteria – which, according to the Federal Expert Commission for Biological Safety, pose the greatest threat to public health. I’ve known organic since I was a kid and I know plants don’t need pesticides. On the contrary: we use it to poison bees, insects, plants and vegetables. However, it is still being told that nothing works without the use of pesticides and otherwise everything would be more expensive. The fact is: now we pay huge amounts for environmental destruction, which is not included in the price of the products.
You used to collect earthworms.
That was when I was at school in Münsingen, always after summer thunderstorms. And when I was cycling I had to be careful to keep my mouth shut to avoid swallowing bugs. Nowadays you hardly see earthworms, no windscreens full of insects and hardly any butterflies flying around. This shows the influence of current agricultural policy on biodiversity.
Is the situation different for you today than with the drinking water initiative?
Yes, today no one can deny climate change with heat, drought and water shortages in many areas and countries, it is there. Where there is no water, there is no food. Corona and the war in Ukraine have shown that imports can fail and that a high domestic supply of food is important. So far I have not received any bad feedback about the new initiative. More and more farmers are also starting to think again. You see that climate change can only be overcome with ecological production. It’s something new for all of us. Neither the population nor the agriculture and food industry are sufficiently prepared for the fact that water can also become a scarce resource in Europe’s buffer tank.
Where do you recharge your batteries to keep fighting?
Under our walnut (laughs). I am very connected to the earth and animals. The Earth is the mother of all of us. It feeds us unless you destroy it. When I turn to her, I feel immense gratitude and security. She will be preserved. With or without us. Whether it is with us is in our hands.
And what drives you?
It comes from within. I find some of the things we humans do incredibly exhausting and painful: destroy, build, destroy. Actually, everything we need to live is available to us for free, nature gives us everything. We just need to work with her instead of against her. I also often think about why we don’t do more to find peace. Even as a child I never understood why I had to learn everything about every war. I would rather have learned how countries choose peace over war and how peace is made.
Are there role models that inspire you?
I like to watch movies or read books about people who, with a calm but determined inner attitude, make change possible or have come out of hopeless situations. I recently reread Nelson Mandela’s autobiography.
Everywhere in your apartment hang papers with statements like “The art of living is the art of leaving out the right” or “Normal is dangerous”.
Daily alignment is important to me. I train regularly so that I stay centered when things are not going well or the situation seems hopeless. I always ask myself: what do I need in my life? Little if you concentrate. Two days without water, then all the money in the world becomes secondary. Today it has become almost normal and even justified that we destroy our environment, pollute our drinking water and that we have to pay more for ecological products than for products that destroy the environment. I think it’s very important to rethink our standards. My projects stem from experiences and insights I have gained. I never have a business plan. Everything I do comes from within. I feel an enormous urgency and then start carrying out the projects without already having and being able to do everything. It’s not always easy, and there are nights when I lie awake thinking I’ll never make it. But the next day something comes, a door opens and brings opportunity and support for the project, and I know I’m on the right track.
Source:Blick
I am Liam Livingstone and I work in a news website. My main job is to write articles for the 24 Instant News. My specialty is covering politics and current affairs, which I’m passionate about. I have worked in this field for more than 5 years now and it’s been an amazing journey. With each passing day, my knowledge increases as well as my experience of the world we live in today.
