Vegetarian menu for children, soup in a kettle: Cologne resident spoke about the crisis

The theme of the crisis in Germany does not leave the pages of publications. So on Wednesday, November 16, the German newspaper Zeit published an article in which they informed that “the federal government wants to ease the financial burden for owners of new heat pumps.” This is claimed to conserve fossil energy. While the German authorities are considering new options for helping citizens, MK talked with a resident of the city of Cologne about life changes during the crisis.

The federal government plans to introduce special rules for owners of new heat pumps as part of the reduction in electricity prices, writes Zeit. This was announced by Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck in Berlin. The special regulation is intended to take into account all heat pumps installed in 2022.

Gas and electricity brake prices provide price caps for certain basic consumption and are the main means of easing the impact on households and industry in an energy crisis. Habek emphasized that switching to a heat pump is the right way from an economic point of view.

Innovations look quite useful. But the crisis has already managed to take over and cause damage to all spheres of people’s lives. And, apparently, until he loses ground, especially on the eve of winter.

A resident of Cologne shared with MK stories from her already familiar life:

“First of all, electricity has risen in price, because, as I understand it, it is all connected with gas prices,” says Lana Hilger. – It got to the point that even where there was a backlight in the cities, they try to muffle it. An example is the Cologne Cathedral. It was always illuminated at night, but now it is practically not illuminated, because they save electricity.

Gas prices have also gone up. People are looking for alternative ways to heat their homes. There is even a curious example from football life. It is proposed not to hold games in winter or to reduce them during this period, because in order to hold a game at the stadium, the lawn needs to be heated. And this takes a lot of energy. So while there are such thoughts, to reduce training or even stop athletes from training, but it is not yet known whether this will be implemented.

Plus, we always had New Year’s markets and skating rinks in winter. This year, all this, most likely, will also be reduced. I even think that many people will not have a lot of garlands at home this year. But these are trifles, there are more serious consequences of the crisis.

Prices for electricity and gas also affect the pricing policy of farmers. The cost of keeping animals has increased, in connection with this, the prices of meat (and meat products in general) and dairy products are increasing. This immediately catches the eye.

Prices have jumped so much that even schools and kindergartens have begun to think about introducing a vegetarian menu. There is even one kindergarten in Freiburg, which has given up meat due to the crisis. It is simply, unrealistic for little money to offer a normal menu with normal meat.

There is another example with vegetable oil. It can only be bought in a certain quantity, a certain number of bottles. It has also become very expensive due to the situation in Ukraine. All the oil came from there. And if there is less sunflower, then people switch to another, which, accordingly, also becomes smaller.

Often, restaurants served french fries (it is known to be deep-fried), now many restaurants replace it with regular boiled or fried potatoes. There is a tradition in Cologne to make Reibekuchen (in fact, these are potato pancakes). So in some restaurants they will even be removed from the menu, because they are also deep-fried. And I even read already that at New Year’s fairs (this dish was often sold there) their preparation will also be curtailed. It turns out to be too expensive: a lot of oil is needed and it is clear that prices will need to be raised. But hardly anyone wants to give a lot of money for these potato pancakes. Back to the same french fries. We recently ate it and realized that it has gone up in price a lot. Yes, even doners and shawarma have become expensive.

Previously, we often bought bio products, but now even for us it has become expensive, we are trying (like many people) to change the family purchasing policy. Now we are trying to buy not bio, but if it is a regional product, we buy it, there is more confidence in it. Also, many pay attention to seasonal vegetables and fruits. What we used to buy all year round, now we will only buy during the season. So, real changes in everyday life are taking place.

As for flour, there are also restrictions. It happened that it was not on the shelves at all. Not enough flour – bread has risen in price, bakery products have become unrealistic. For us, now these are not fresh buns from bakeries, but cheaper ones from supermarkets. They can lie there all day, they are of a completely different quality and cannot be compared with buns from a bakery. It’s the same with cakes. The Germans like to eat some cake with a cup of coffee after dinner – now it’s all becoming less affordable.

Another case of saving heating. In the offices of many firms, the value of the minimum temperature in the premises has been reduced. I don’t remember exactly what the standards were, but I can say with accuracy that they lowered them by 1-2 degrees.

New technologies are also appearing, new batteries, on which you can adjust the temperature in different rooms or turn it off for a while. Of course, this may have happened before. But now it’s getting more popular. Everyone else, like mad, puts solar panels in order to save money too. The solar panels themselves are very expensive, but somehow, as far as I know, the state contributes to this. There is support. Still, it is such an environmentally friendly form of energy. Many people even save money in order to install solar panels and thus reduce heating costs.

All newspapers write about ways to save money. Even if you take a child or an adult, tips are written everywhere on how to save money in everyday life. Even little things. For example, warm water for soup not on the stove, but in an electric kettle. It is much cheaper because on the stove this process is longer and more energy is wasted. Now, you can see it in any newspaper now. The topic of saving is the most important thing.