The European Commission has opened a public consultation on the strategy
Farm to Fork
(f2f), announced in Brussels on 11.12.19. From field to table, we increasingly need food that is sustainable, healthy and good for everyone.
▶️ Each of us-individually or representing associations, research institutes, other public and private entities, businesses and cooperatives-can make comments, by 3/16/20, on the web page https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/initiatives/ares-2020-941864_en.
From producer to consumer, Farm to Fork
‘European food is famous for being safe, nutritious and of high quality. It should now also become the global standard for sustainability’. (1) On this premise, the European Commission states that it will take concrete measures for a food system that meets current environmental and ecological needs, in line with the so-called
European Green Deal.
.
The European Commission thus pledged to cooperate with member states and relevant social partners to develop the ‘Farm to Fork‘ (F2F) strategy, expected in the spring. With measures, legislative and otherwise, aimed at increasing the sustainability of agricultural and food production. It envisions-in words-a system that can cope with climate change, protect the environment and biodiversity.
Therefore, it is necessary to supportecoagriculture, i.e., organic production
Andpeasant agriculture. With the goal of providing European citizens with sustainable food at reasonable prices, including through short supply chains.
Climate and waste
ThelatestIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)report, ‘Climate change and Land‘ (2019), highlights the impossibility of containing global warming without radically transforming food production and land management. In fact, the report estimates that 25-30% of global CO2 emissions should be attributed to the food system. Which unfortunately still contributes to air, soil and water pollution and loss of biodiversity.
Food waste prevention is also among the priority areas of the Circular Economy Action Plan. In fact, the European Union continues to produce millions of tons of food waste, accounting for about 20 percent of total food waste. Therefore, a systemic approach must be taken so that:
– Measuring levels of waste in the various parts of the supply chain through harmonized parameters,
– Establish measures for their structural prevention.
Food and Health
Rising levels of inequality and the mindless marketing of junk food (
junk food
) exacerbate the health emergency related to obesity, overweight and related diseases (NCDs, Non-Communicable Diseases) starting inchildhood. At the same time, 8 percent of the European population fails to access safe and nutritious food one day out of two.
‘It is clear: a new, healthier, fairer and more sustainable approach to food systems is needed. Business as usual is no longer an option’ (2)
Antibioticresistance (Antimicrobial Resistance, AMR) in turn constitutes one of the most serious threats to the health of the planet’s population, according to theWorld Health Organization. To be attributed both to the excessive and inappropriate use of antibiotics in the treatment of people but also in animal husbandry. And that’s why Europe has reformed the rules on animal welfare, on land farms as well as in aquaculture.
Food information
Information on the origin of foods and their raw materials is all the more necessary so that consumers can choose products that come from supply chains that are guaranteed on both fronts of health and sustainability. Therefore, the Commission must follow up on the European citizens’ initiative #.eatORIGINal! Unmask your food!, which collected 1.1 million signatures in one year.
Nutritional information must in turn be harmonized, reporting to the NutriScore system that is being clamored for by European citizens. Precisely because it is the most effective mark to express ‘at a glance’ the preferability of some foods over others. Among other things, the Commission is wilfully late by 11 years in establishing the nutrient profiles necessary to prevent junk food from being advertised as ‘nutritious’ or ‘healthy.’
The ecological transition
The social partners have already proposed that the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy(CAP), for 2021-2027, should introduce goals for environmental protection and biodiversity. The Farm to Fork strategy must complement this reform, however, to contribute to the achievement of theSustainable Development Goals ( SDGs) in the agribusiness supply chain.
The most bitter (albeit veiled) debate concerns targets for reducing the use of pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers in agriculture. Where the risks to human and animal health, the environment and biodiversity associated with the often excessive use of agrotoxics are increasingly evident.
The sweeping lobbies of pesticide (and seed) monopolists, on the other hand:
– fight the goal of quantitative reduction of agrotoxin consumption, which is still disproportionate to the rules on so-called integrated pest management in agriculture,
– aim to de-regulate new GMOs (or NBTs, New Breeding Techniques), with the goal of eliminating the due risk assessment that must precede their authorization in the European Union,
– preserve monopolistic control of the market, in defiance of every rule protecting competition.
Agrotoxic hazard
The EU report on pesticides-expected in March 2020, at the same time as the f2f strategy-may confirm the European Commission’s previously ventilated proposal to allow the import of food containing residues of carcinogenic, genotoxic and neurotoxic pesticides banned in Europe. This encourages food and environmental security dumping carried out by the top food commodity exporting countries, to the detriment of our agriculture and health. Thanks in part to the toxic treaties that Europe continues to make and negotiate. (3)
Moreover, the analysis of risks associated with exposure to mixes of pesticides and herbicides, so-called cocktail effect, has been expected in Europe for a decade or so. And the European Commission-in wilful omission of its duties in this regard-is responsible for the experimentation that is still being carried out on the health of citizens and ecosystems. Still awaiting, among other things, the adoption of safeguard measures, after the scientific fraud scandal on the basis of which the renewal of glyphosate authorization was granted.
Dario Dongo and Giulia Torre
Notes
(1) https://ec.europa.eu/food/farm2fork_en
(2) SEE https://ec.europa.eu/food/sites/food/files/food_farm2fork_20191212_qanda.pdf
(3) See CETA, Singapore and
Mercosur. In addition to TTIP.
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
Graduated in law, master in European Food Law, she deals with agro-food, veterinary and agricultural legislation. She is a PhD in agrisystem.
