Should the government subsidise kebabs?
That’s the question in Germany at the moment amid fears the price of the dish could surpass €10 (£8.60).
The German Left Party has reportedly proposed using state funds to cap the price of kebabs at €4.90 (£4.20) - and €2.50 (£2.10) for young people.
The meaty flatbread meal - one of Germany’s de facto national dishes - currently averages around €7.9 (£6.80), a number that the Left Party says is going up with inflation.
The cost of kebabs has become something of a running joke in German politics, with Chancellor Olaf Scholz remarking that everywhere he goes he is asked about it.
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The newspaper cited a report from Ms Gebel’s party, which says that 1.3 billion kebabs are eaten in Germany every year and the proposed subsidies could potentially cost “almost four billion”.
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In the UK, people buying takeaways have faced soaring prices, with the boss of Deliveroo saying in March that food inflation was outpacing wage inflation by about two to one.
The UK government has not made any commitment to a kebab price cap.
Sounds like a wild idea to me to subsidize one particular type of fast food just because it tends to surpass the magic price limit of 10€.
If young or poor people don’t have enough money to buy food, we have to adjust our social system and how money is distributed in the first place.
If people then buy kebap, falafel, pizza, burger, a rice bowl or prefer to cook at home, should be up to them.
Well, only one type of fast food had a crazy price explosion over the last couple of years - I can buy a pizza for maybe 1-2€ extra compared to 2019, whereas Döner got ~2-3 times as expensive. It’s also hard to overstate just how much of a staple it was.
And I think one reason for that is that while kebab may be fast food, it’s surely no junk food with all the vegetables inside. And inflation for vegetables in Germany has been crazy. Besides, energy and cooking oil prices have been skyrocketing so no matter if you prefer a vegan option like falafel or meat, all aspects of kebab production have been increasing significantly.