Just days ahead of the European Days of Action, when Europeans will unite to call for better food and farming across the continent, the Nations of Slow Food in the UK draw attention to the alarming prospects of Brexit’s impact on the UK’s food system, warning that a no-deal Brexit may impose unprecedented adverse effects.
Slow Food is greatly concerned about the severe disruption expected from a no-deal Brexit. The UK’s food system is intimately entwined with that of the rest of the European Community, and a harsh Brexit would affect some of the most vulnerable food producers and local communities in the UK.
“The European Union is a vital focus for Slow Food’s efforts to create a more sustainable, just, and responsible food system that recognizes local traditions and cultures,” says Marta Messa, Slow Food International Councilor for the European Union, adding that a no-deal Brexit will be severe and far-reaching, while “lessening the possibility of shared actions on important issues like glyphosates, food waste, and GM foods”.
Slow Food supports the call by the Nations of Slow Food in the UK to recognize the positive areas of pan-European co-operation and collaboration in areas such as bi-lateral, tariff-free trade, the free movement of labor, EU support for small producers, the maintenance of vital food safety standards, and the protection of rare and traditional foods.
Slow Food stands united with Slow Food in the UK and the wider UK food community and joins the call on the negotiating parties to take the concerns of all those within the UK food system, and all those who depend on it, into account.
At a time when international solidarity is needed to face our shared challenges of climate change, increasing migrancy and the loss of biodiversity, the departure of the UK from the community of Europe will be a serious loss.
Read the full Brexit statement here