Editing Renate Künast (section)

===Minister for Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, 2001–2005===
Künast became Minister for Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection in the second government of [[Chancellor of Germany|Germany]] [[Gerhard Schröder]] in 2001. Since her party at the time did not allow the combination of functions in the party and the government in one person, she had to resign from her role as the party's co-chair.

By naming someone with no experience in farming to head a ministry with such sweeping powers, Schröder was widely considered gambling that any loss of support among farmers would be more than compensated by support from ecologically conscious Germans alarmed by the discovery of [[mad cow disease]].<ref>Roger Cohen (11 January 2001), [https://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/11/world/11BERL.html Two Named to New German Agency in Shuffle Over Beef Disease] ''[[New York Times]]''.</ref>

Künast held the office of Minister for Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection until 2005, over time becoming known for increasing [[consumer protection]], supporting [[organic farm]]ing, and expanding [[animal welfare]]. During her time in office, she ranked behind only Schröder and Foreign Minister [[Joschka Fischer]] in public opinion polls.<ref>[https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2001-06-10/renate-kunast Renate Kunast, Agriculture Minister, Germany] ''[[Bloomberg News]]'', 11 June 2001.</ref>