Europe can do better. The EU’s institutions are bring dragged in the right direction, finally starting to face up to the scale of the challenges ahead, buoyed on by everything from the school striking children to farmers angry at the lack of anything like a real transition plan to a sustainable farming future.
In this context, 30 Civil Society Organisations including ARC2020 are calling on the Farm to Fork (F2F) strategy to achieve sustainable food systems.
People in the EU have made unprecedented calls for change throughout 2019, demanding climate action, environmental protection, improved animal welfare and social justice. Food systems are pushing us across ‘planetary boundaries’, driving diet-related diseases and failing to deliver decent livelihoods in the EU and beyond: they are therefore at the heart of the change that citizens are demanding.
The European Green Deal does not reflect the urgent, systemic changes needed in our food system, nor contains concrete commitments to drive a fundamental transition.
In order to meet citizens’ expectations, the F2F strategy must develop a coherent long-term vision for our food system and bold actions to accompany the transition. This strategy must pave the way for an integrated, sustainable EU Food Policy, and sectoral policies like the CAP must be fully aligned with its objectives and targets.
30 civil society organisations have written an open letter in order to highlight the priorities and actions that the F2F strategy should have in order to provide a coherent response to societal concerns about biodiversity, climate change, health, income of all workers in the food chain, social equity and animal welfare, amongst others.
The full letter with priority objectives and specific, timelined actions that have been identified for seven policy areas is available here:
Read the joint letter: EU FPC Open Letter F2F