Last August German police discovered about 50 tons of rotten meat on the premises of a wholesaler in Bavaria. Because the risk of rotten meat turning up in grocery stores everywhere is not to be underestimated, the importance of efficient food quality monitoring is clear.

As the scandal over out-of-date meat in Germany widens, the main suspect, a Munich wholesaler, has committed suicide. Meanwhile a political row has erupted over food quality control in a country that lives on sausages and Schnitzel.

Local food (also regional food or food patriotism) or the local food movement is a "collaborative effort to build more locally based, self-reliant food economies - one in which sustainable food production, processing, distribution and consumption is integrated to enhance the economic, environmental and social health of a particular place" and is considered to be a part of the broader sustainability movement. It is part of the concept of local purchasing and local economies, a preference to buy locally produced goods and services. Those who prefer to eat locally grown/produced food sometimes call themselves "localvores" or locavores.