German media and opposition
politicians have criticized Wulff for importing the bakery specialties from 300
km away to Berlin, calling it a waste of taxpayer money and a poor example as
far as his carbon footprint is concerned.
"Why don't you eat
Berlin bread, Mr. President," Bild newspaper wrote on Tuesday.
Claudia Haemmerling, a member
of Berlin's local assembly for the Greens party, said it was absurd to truck
bakery goods to Berlin from Hanover because Berlin has plenty of top bakeries.
Wulff was previously state premier of Lower Saxony in Hanover.
"You can get excellent
bread in Berlin," Haemmerling told the daily Berliner Zeitung. The
practice began under his predecessor Roman Herzog, president from 1994 to 1999.
Hanover
baker Jochen Gaues defended his long-distance deliveries, telling Bild:
"This is really annoying. My bread is made by hand and top quality. If the
Berlin bakers can't do the job, maybe they should replace their old
machines."
