European NGOs Urge to Improve the Farm to Fork Strategy

Slow Food Europe has joined 30+ organizations calling on the new European Commission leadership to improve the Farm to Fork Strategy. The strategy, which is part of the European Green Deal and is due to be officially presented  in spring 2020, aims to design “a fair, healthy, and environmentally friendly food system.” The undersigned organizations highlight that the strategy lacks clear, ambitious targets and urge the Commission to create “a robust monitoring and evaluation framework that includes corrective measures when targets are missed.”

The letter addressed to Vice-President Frans Timmermans and responsible Commissioners highlight seven policy areas which, according to the organizations, should be included in the Farm to Fork Strategy, if it is to address the urgent challenges in food systems. The key areas are:

(1) Develop inclusive and transparent governance and regulatory framework for policy coherence and transformation;

(2) Support a transition to food production that safeguards the environment, the climate, and our health;

(3) Drive a transition to sustainable, healthy diets by creating enabling food environments;

(4) Establish a socially and economically just food system;

(5) Ensure the welfare and health of farmed animals;

(6) Promote participatory research and knowledge exchange for sustainable food systems;

(7) Drive global action for sustainable food systems.

Slow Food Europe, along with undersigned organizations, believes that the Farm to Fork Strategy must pave the way for a sustainable and integrated EU Food Policy as the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), have failed to drive a transition towards sustainable food systems. The organizations stress the need to integrate different policy areas to reach the objective and to support agroecological practices, which can be a solution to the destructive effects of industrial farming on climate change and biodiversity loss.  

On Wednesday, the Commission revealed its Communication on the European Green Deal. Slow Food Europe was among organizations actively urging the Commission not to include new GMOs or the Innovation Principle in the Deal as an earlier leaked version indicated it was planning to do so. The official document followed the request of civil society organizations and removed any references to these potentially dangerous elements.

Although the European Green Deal is promising and gives hope that the EU is ready to take real action, Slow Food Europe urges the Commission to explicitly address the negative effects of intensive farming, which contributes greatly to climate change and biodiversity loss.

Read the letter on the Farm to Fork strategy here: