Eating habits on film sets have changed in recent years. Where meat portions used to be insisted upon, today the demand for vegetarian and vegan dishes is increasing. For the good of the animals, for the good of the environment - and ultimately also for the good of the consumer. Other important aspects for the ecological balance are regionality and organic certification. This claim has also found its way into the funding landscape: For the Green Motion and Green Filming Badge labels, at least 50 per cent of the catering must be regional and 1/3 organic. Meat should be avoided as far as possible. But how do the catering companies currently assess the situation on set? And how is the cooperation with the film productions going?
To find out, MOIN Film Fund sent a catalogue of 23 questions to all catering companies in Germany that are listed on the Crew United industry platform - 30 companies took part in the survey. The questions were divided into eight main categories: Fundamentals, eating habits, experience with productions, experience on set, energy, training, corona and mood.
The most important finding first: almost all (28 out of 30) companies offer vegetarian, vegan, regional and seasonal catering and work more sustainably than they did a few years ago. As a rule, however, the decision in favour of or against sustainable food is linked to the budget of the production company - and this is a major sticking point. Although almost 50% of production companies require catering that includes seasonal, regional, vegetarian and vegan dishes, they are often not prepared to bear the additional costs. The extra costs arise due to the higher organisational and logistical effort involved in procuring the food, the fresh cooking and the higher price of the food - in addition, operating costs and wages are rising, as is currently the case in many other industries. One possible solution: sustainable catering must be prioritised higher in budget planning. Incidentally, anyone who receives a funding approval from MOIN Film Fund will also have the higher costs for sustainable catering recognised - as long as they are included in the budget plan.
Avoiding meat is an important lever for reducing the CO2 footprint. But how do the cast and crew on set feel about meatless days? According to the survey, meat-free days are welcomed by around a third of the teams. However, according to the catering companies, 15 per cent of the cast and crew react negatively to days when there is no meat on the menu.
According to the survey, the topic of sustainability on set also needs to be placed even higher on the agenda for the cast and crew. For example, extra requests can only be fulfilled to a very limited extent as part of sustainable catering, and waste separation and the avoidance of disposable crockery are also essential. There seems to be a great need for action when it comes to waste separation in particular: there is often simply not enough budget.
Another problem that many people don't realise: There is a lack of young talent in the catering sector. The reasons for this are the difficult working conditions, low wages, insufficient appreciation and a lack of planning security. There is also a lack of proper training - cooperation with local restaurants, for example, would help here.
For the time being, it can therefore be said that a huge leap towards more sustainable catering has taken place within a very short space of time. Together with catering companies, the film industry is on the right track. However, in many cases the question of costs is still unresolved - because sustainability is often more expensive and therefore cannot be achieved for free. Film funding organisations have also recognised this: For many, higher costs for ecologically sustainable filming are now eligible for funding.
You can view the entire survey here.
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