Who Do We Eat? – the EU Animal Welfare Legislation Under Review

12 Jan 2023

2023 is a crucial year for the improvement of animal welfare in Europe. As the European Commission is expected to present its new EU Animal Welfare Legislation in several months, Slow Food joined the organisation Compassion in World Farming for a screening and debate of the first episode of the ARTE documentary series “Who We Eat”, last month at the European Parliament. Our message? We need to initiative a protein transition – from industrial animal farming towards an agroecological approach.

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For several years now, the European Union has been taking steps towards more sustainable agriculture, notably via its EU Farm to Fork Strategy, a 10-year plan and a prominent pillar of the European Green Deal. Pesticide reduction, biodiversity restoration, sustainable agriculture, animal welfare, the Strategy touches upon many aspects that are crucial for a truly green European agriculture.

As part of this transition, the European Commission has committed to revising the EU Animal Welfare legislation by the end of 2023, because they acknowledge that improving animal welfare results in better animal health, less medication, and can help safeguard biodiversity. Such revision, that will also include a part on animal transport and animal slaughter, aims to align the current EU legislation with the latest scientific evidence (which proves amongst other things that animals are sentient beings with natural vital needs) and to ensure a higher level of animal welfare in the EU.

As a member of the EU Animal Welfare platform[1], Slow Food is closely following the development of this legislative proposal and calls on the EU to adopt the One Welfare approach, because animal welfare relies on human and environmental wellbeing. This is why Slow Food supports those who raise animals with respect, take care of the soil, while ensuring animal and landscape’s biodiversity.

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Read our latest position paper  : “Beyond Welfare, We Owe Animals Respect” (also in Italian)
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This is the message we brought up at the debate organized last month by Compassion in World Farming (CIWF), at the European Parliament in Brussels.

Hosted by MEPs Tilly Metz (Luxembourg, Greens/EFA) and Pascal Durand (France, Socialists and Democrats), the event included a screening and discussion of the first episode of the ARTE documentary series “Who We Eat”, that questions our perception of animal farming. Farmers and advocates for animals were also present, together with the documentary directors, Jannis Funk and Jakob Schmidt.

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“Who We Eat” film screening and debate, European Parliament, December 2022 (c) Compassion in World Farming EU

During the debate, Slow Food hammered home the urgent need for a protein transition – from industrial animal farming towards an agroecological approach.

Animal biodiversity has a major role to play for guaranteeing animal welfare and the sustainability of animal farming. In Europe and North America local breeds have almost completely . Industrial farming is today the dominant production model, focused on selective breeding for fast growth and high yields. Productivism has encouraged the selection of around only 30 livestock breeds designed for maximum yields, in order to meet the world’s rising meat demand –around 154 million tons consumed in 1990 compared to around 328 million tons in 2021. And this number is forecast to grow in the next decades. Yet, meat production being a significant greenhouse gas emitter and thus a cause of climate change (also due to practices such as deforestation and to air, soil and water pollution), the much needed protein transition towards agroecological farming systems cannot happen without a reduction of animal proteins. This means that our model of agriculture and of society must change too.

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Discover the Slow Meat campaign
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During the debate, Olga Kikou, head of Compassion in World Farming EU (CIWF EU), underlined that consumers are always the ones blamed for not supporting animal welfare even if they are willing to, while it is actually the food system’s fault. If there are no healthy, sustainable food options in your neighbourhood, or if junk food remains the most affordable food, you, as an individual consumer, are simply not being given any other choice. This is why political leaders, at any level (from local to international) must commit to improving food environments[2] where consumers can opt for healthy, sustainable and ethical food, produced with the respect of animal welfare at its core.

Coming back to the European context, the EU legislative framework for sustainable food systems is expected to be launched mid-2023. It will aim at making the EU food system sustainable and to integrate sustainability into all food-related policies.

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Villages Kachaly, Volytsia, Halynka, Ukraine, 2022, © Slow Food Archive

At Slow Food, we are asking for this law to make the healthy, sustainable choice the easy one by setting mandatory minimum sustainability criteria for public food procurement, increasing the share of plant-based diets and sourcing animal products with high welfare standards. In its new (2022) Manifesto for establishing Minimum Standards for Public Canteens across the EU, the EU Food Policy Coalition (of which CIWF and Slow Food Europe are active members), has identified animal welfare as one of the seven mandatory (minimum) and optional criteria for public canteens.

Related to this is the need for the upcoming EU law to promote legumes and pulses, which have a low environmental impact, are good for our health, and can play a key role in facing food insecurity.

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What You Need to Know ABout Pulses
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EU citizens value animal welfare and state their willingness to pay for higher standards but are hindered by a lack of transparency and choice, while a vast majority of them clearly wants information about animal welfare for all animal products. The EU cannot ignore them any longer.

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Advocacy Square at Terra Madre 2022, © Slow Food Archive

But we can all help impulse the change, which is why Slow Food daily engages with farmers, youth, cooks, municipalities and beyond: because collective actions are necessary to achieve sustainable food systems. Last September during the 2022 edition of Terra Madre, we renewed our commitment to “reducing the production and consumption of industrial animal products and promote sustainable farming systems” in our 10 political recommendations addressed to those in power: we need brave policymakers to truly transform the food system and we’ll keep advocate for this to happen!

One final suggestion for you: take the time to watch the “Who We Eat” documentary, you can access the 5-episodes series here, available in English, German, French, Spanish, Polish and Italian!

 

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[1] An expert group composed of EU authorities, businesses, civil society and scientists.

[2] “Food environments are the subtle influences on our daily food choices: everything from the billboard you see as you walk your children to school, to how groceries are laid out in your local shop, or how food is labelled”- extract from “Choosing Good Food should not be this Complicated – a Vision for Improving EU Food Environments” by Madeleine Coste and Franck, 13 October 2021.

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