The European Strategy
Farm to Fork
(f2f) – already expected on 29.3.20, in the broader context of the
European Green Deal
– is indispensable and urgent, to heal an ailing agricultural system. This was followed by a preview of the European Commission’s latest draft. ‘A Farm to Fork Strategy. For a fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food system‘.
Environmental protection, can it wait?
It is necessary to substantially reduce the spraying of agrotoxics with a view to their gradual elimination. And realize in deeds that ecological transition so far evoked only in words, although urged even in the FAO.
Copa-Cogeca — the confederation representing 76 agricultural federations and cooperatives in the EU — and the European People’s Party (EPP), at the dawn of the Covid emergency, immediately asked the Commission to postpone any decision on the ‘farm to fork‘ strategy until majora. Nothing new from an entity that fought for the renewal ofglyphosate authorization and supports GMOs.
Instead, 40 organizations-active on the fronts of agroecology and peasant agriculture, organic production, environment and sustainability, and consumers-have lobbied in the opposite direction. A new comprehensive policy, Common Food Policy (CAP) and beyond, must be developed as soon as possible. Under the banner of ecology, equity, health and well-being, resilience.
The pandemic after all has highlighted the serious dysfunctions of the food production system, which all the more reason to come under structural reform. (1)
Farm to Fork Strategy. Foreword
The European Commission’s latest draft of the Farm to Fork Strategy, which we had a chance to review, shows how the actual determination of the Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen. With even more effective tools than those announced last December. (2). Sustainability of the agrifood system in the EU and zero climate impact by 2050 are ambitious but achievable goals.
The f2f Strategy involves every player in the supply-chain and emphasizes the role of farmers, ranchers, and fishermen as change agents. Greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural systems, globally, are estimated to be between 21-37 percent of the total. Thanks mostly to palm oil and GMO soy, against which we have activated a #Buycott campaign.
Emission levels attributed to agriculture in the EU-11 percent of total emissions-are already significantly lower than on other continents. Sixty percent of this comes from animal husbandry, which moreover uses 71 percent of agricultural land (for livestock and feed production). The situation, in these respects, is therefore less dramatic than how it is portrayed by detractors of the production of foods of animal origin, which on the other hand provide populations with proteins of high biological value.
However, the sustainability of agrifood production in Europe is problematic-and has much room for improvement-because of the supplies of agricultural commodities that come from large producing countries. Likepalm oil, which is still widespread. And GMO soybeans coming from the American continent, which are widely used as feedstock for our livestock farms.
Goals
The European Commission, it will be recalled, has in recent months carried out a public consultation of the social partners concerned on the hypotheses of structural reform of agri-food policies in the EU.
Supply chain integrity-or sustainability, to be ensured at every stage(from seed to fork and from feed to fork)-is taken as the guiding principle of the new European strategy. With the aim of making an effective connection between the concepts of ‘healthy people, healthy societies and healthy planet‘.
Macro areas of focus
The macro areas of intervention identified by the European Commission to ensure the climate and environmental impact neutrality of food systems are as follows:
(a) Food chain, from production to sale. That is, to protect soils, water, air, plants and animals, with a view to protecting biodiversity,
(b) food supply(food security, perhaps even food sovereignty) and citizen health. Thus ensuring high product quality and wholesomeness, access to food, and animal and plant welfare,
(c) economic benefits. The costs associated with change must be rewarded, add value and create jobs. Therefore, effective implementation of EU Directive 2019/633(Unfair Trading Practices, UTPs) and value chain transparency must be ensured in all member states. (3)
By the end of 2023, according to the timetable, a new legislative framework should be concluded that will be able to accompany member states in achieving sustainability standards.
Agriculture
Reducing the use of pesticides, and thus the risks posed by them, by 2030 is one of the most ambitious goals set by the Commission. Although the draft still does not indicate timeframes and reduction quotas. Rumors report -25% in the Commission’s assumption, -50% by 2025 the request of NGOs who would like to achieve total elimination by 2035.
There is also a need to revise EC Directive/2009/218 on the sustainable use of pesticides, which introduced the so-called integrated pest management method. It then refers to the introduction of limits on the use of fertilizers as a primary cause of water pollution, including through measures in CAP strategic plans.
Pesticides
The European Court of Auditors published a report on 5.2.20 where it highlighted Brussels’ lack of ability to reduce pesticide use to an extent consistent with the needs to control the risks associated with it. (4) The major causes:
– Lack of control over how the directive is transposed and effectively implemented(as alsoreported in Italy),
– lack of clarity on how to implement the obligations contained, non-existent incentives for farmers, difficulty in comparing national indicators. ‘The Commission, therefore, still lacks a solid evidence base to determine whether the directive has achieved the EU’s goal of making pesticide use sustainable.’
Animal husbandry and aquaculture
Targets in animal husbandry and aquaculture are tied to new parameters:
– greenhouse gases, emission cuts (including through innovative solutions, e.g., adding algae to feed. SEE https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade .it/progresso/alghe-contro-l-effetto-serra),
– soil and water pollutants, reduction,
– unsustainable feed materials (e.g., soybeans grown in deforested areas), substitution,
– Antibiotics, reduction in use. (5) Antibiotic resistance is one of the global public health emergencies, as highlighted by WHO in its report 29.4.19, ‘No Time to Wait: Securing the future from drug-resistant infections. Precisely for this reason, the European legislature introduced the ‘Veterinary Medicines Package’ (EU Regulations 2019/4-5-6).
Fishing
The Commission proposes to establish sustainable levels of fishing to maintain the fish stock through the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) and revision of the control system. This is a truly ambitious goal since still, as we have seen, the setting of each country’s fishing quotas is subject to political negotiations that disregard any consideration of the actual size of fish stocks.
Sustainable aquaculture will be boosted, with a stimulus to the seaweed industry, including with 1 billion euros to be drawn from the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Fund. Animal welfare is identified as a key element in improving food quality, the health of the animals themselves, the consequent decrease in treatment, and the protection of biodiversity.
Organic
The organic system, it finally reads, is more environmentally friendly method of agricultural production. And not surprisingly, it is continuously growing, as the latest data show. Therefore, its promotion is included among the goals of F2F Strategy by 2030. In addition to the measures included in the CAP. Although crop conversion targets are not yet defined.
New GMOs
New GMOs(Plant Breeding Techniques, PBT) creep into the f2f strategy, as easy to predict. Behind the false narrative of genetic and yield improvement lies, once again, the development of new plants resistant to broad-spectrum agrotoxics. As just verified in France withglyphosate-resistant endive.
The Big 4-which thrive on poisons rather than seeds-have already wreaked havoc in the U.S., where 50,000 new GMOs have been authorized unchecked. And that is why Donald Trump raises his voice on European vassals, demanding liberalization of every Franken-seed.
The EU Court of Justice has ruled that ‘new’ GMOs (obtained by cisgenesis) must be subject to the same rules as conventional GMOs’ (from trans genesis). (6) Scientific risk assessment by EFSA, European authorization, traceability and labeling. We remain on guard, waiting to examine proposals to simplify the registration regime for new plant varieties.
Circular Economy and MOCA
The Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) is referred to as a role model in the industrial processing and food distribution stages. From industry to retail, the new model Thecircular economy should lead to the phasing out of single-use packaging. Some incentives for the sale of bulk products have already been introduced, in Italy, with the so-called ‘climate decree’.
Moreover, the Covid emergency risks being exploited to procrastinate the implementation of theSingle-Use Plastics ( SUP) directive. With a negative impact, related to plastic production, also on greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.
New rules on MOCAs (Materials and Objects Intended to Come into Contact with Food) have already been delayed, shamefully, even before the coronavirus emergency. And they should serve, among other things, to promote new solutions for sustainable, recyclable, eco-friendly, smart and active packaging (to control storage conditions and increase shelf life).
Nutritional safety
The consumer remains the focus of concern, in words. Brussels reports on the need to reverse the rising trend of obesity, overweight and related diseases. By 2030, better late than never.
Added sugars, saturated fat and salt may come under limits, in some food categories. With the idea of banning the former in infant products. The Commission reports to a new Code of Conduct, although previous ones have been failures.
The NutriScore-the synthetic nutrition label-will finally be made mandatory on the front of packages. Nutrition education in schools is relaunched, under the auspices of healthy and sustainable menus in canteens and structured communication plans. Assuming also that member states can propose tax incentives on investments aimed at encouraging sustainable procurement (in logical continuity with the Green Procurement Directive).
Origin and sustainability in labeling
The origin of milk and meat, even when used as ingredients in other foods, comes up again. On a path that in each case must consider the European consumer initiative #EatORIGINal! Unmask your food! Indication of origin, according to the European Commission, serves to encourage the development of short supply chains.
The idea is to define a voluntary labeling system that is effectively able to provide objective and consistent news about the impact of production on the environment, climate, and animal welfare.
Food waste
At least 36 million citizens in the EU, already before the Great Recession expected due to Covid-18 are unable to afford a nutritious meal every other day(https://www.egalite.org/cibo/). And yet at least 20 percent of food, in a very rough estimate, is still wasted in the Old Continent.
Two measures are proposed in the F2F Strategy:
– AnEU-wide harmonized method for measuring food waste at each stage of the supply chain. To be processed following the collection of data produced by the states in 2022, and
– New research on consumer habits. It refers, for example, to misinterpretations of the concepts of expiration date (‘bestbefore‘) and minimum shelf life (‘bestbefore’), as well as critical points in refrigerator and pantry management.
Tools needed
Change toward sustainability will not be possible unless supported by:
– research, innovation and technology. Alternative sources of protein (plant, microbial, marine or from insects) and meat substitutes are mentioned as key areas of research. Essential will be interventions guided by precision agriculture, thus artificial intelligence. According to the Commission, coverage to the Internet must also be ensured in rural areas. The year of completion, now missing in the draft, will be indicated with the publication of the Strategy,
– support for farmers. Sustainability of food systems can only be achieved if stakeholders, starting with agriculture and SMEs, are properly sensitized and supported. Also through ongoing and widespread training work,
– international cooperation. The Farm to Fork strategy, in pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in UN Agenda 2030, must engage trading partners by seeking to include environmental protection clauses in free trade agreements. Everything that has not been done in the toxic agreements signed by the EU in the Juncker era (CETA, JEFTA, Mercosur, Singapore). Commission announces new measures, to be proposed in 2021, to reduce the impact of food products placed on the EU market on deforestation.
Dario Dongo and Marina De Nobili
Notes
(1) ARC 2020. CSOs open letter on the importance and urgency of publishing the Farm to Fork strategy: no further delays, keep April 2020 as publication date. 14.4.20, https://www.arc2020.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Joint-letter_EU-FPC_Timmermans_COVID_F2F.docx.pdf
Signatory organizations include.
Via Campesina
, IFOAM-EU Group, Pesticide Action Network Europe, UNESCO Chair in World Food Systems, Slow Food, Fair trade, SAFE (Safe Food Europe), Greenpeace, EEB- European Environmental Bureau, WWF. base their considerations on SAPEA’s 9.4.20 report. Science Advice for Policy by European Academies, the network of European academies and scientific societies supporting the European Commission. A sustainable food system for the European Union: A systematic review of the European policy ecosystem. Berlin, 2020. DOI 10.26356/sustainablefoodreview
(2) European Commission. Presentation of the f2f program, 11.12.19. V. https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/e%20n/ip_19_6691
(3) The Commission states that achieving sustainable food systems in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) could create an economic value of 1.8 trillion euros by 2030
(4) European Count of Auditors. Special Report 05/2020: Sustainable use of plant protection products: limited progress in measuring and reducing risks, 5.2.20 https://www.eca.europa.eu/en/Pages/DocItem.aspx?did=53001
(5) Insects are mentioned as sustainable products to be used as feed. Maybe even in food production. V. https://www. greatitalianfoodtrade.it/idee/insetti-a-tavola-in-ue, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/nessuna-categoria/insetti-da-mangiare-una-realtà-in-divenire
(6) European Court of Justice (ECJ). Judgment 25.7.18, C-528/16, Conféderation Paysanne and others v Premier ministre and Ministre de l’Agriculture, de l’Agroalimentaire et de la Forêt (France). V. https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/salute/nuovi-ogm-alt-dalla-corte-ue
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
Graduated in law in Trento, she follows a master's degree in food law at Roma Tre. She is passionate about food and wine, she is between culture and tradition.
