A far-sighted approach to EU food systems security and resilience must include a shift towards more plant-based diets
The European Alliance for Plant-based Foods (EAPF) welcomes the European Commission’s communication on safeguarding food security and strengthening the resilience of food systems, as a response to the impact of the Ukraine war on the agri-food value chain worldwide. A shift towards more plant-based diets – including the development of a strong EU plant protein sector for food purposes – is as urgent as ever to strengthen the EU’s long-term autonomy in critical agri-food commodities, under the framework provided by the EU Green Deal and the EU Farm to Fork Strategy.
The current war in Ukraine is heavily impacting the EU agri-food value chain, and requires a forward-looking, strong political response in order to reduce Europe’s dependency on imports of critical agri-food commodities, ensuring that the EU remains on track to reach the objectives set in the EU Green Deal and the EU Farm to Fork Strategy. While understanding the need for measures to counteract the immediate impacts of the war, these should not be a deterrent to slow down the achievement of the EU’s sustainability ambitions. On the contrary, the current situation provides a major incentive to step up actions that could strengthen the long-term resilience of European food systems, such as promoting a shift towards more plant-based diets. In this regard, EAPF welcomes the reference to plant-based diets in the EC Communication.
A transition towards more plant-based diets implies redirecting a great share of crop production towards food applications and human consumption. In the short term, this could encompass scarce commodities such as grains – addressed primarily to food instead of feed – and oil crops (e.g. sunflower oil) – used for food purposes rather than for the production of biofuel; in the medium to long-term, the EU needs to strengthen its autonomy on plant protein crops – such as legumes – and prioritise food over other applications. In this regard, EAPF supports Member States’ call for an EU protein strategy to increase domestic production of plant protein crops, as stated in the Versailles Declaration, in the European Parliament’s Joint Motion for Resolution, and debated at the last Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting.
The spike in commodity prices will also have implications for food affordability. It is therefore critical to ensure that healthy and sustainable foods are also the most affordable option. In this regard, EAPF reiterates the potential of using financial and taxation instruments (e.g. VAT rates) to help level the playing field for plant-based products, making them more affordable and accessible to consumers and further accelerating the shift towards more plantbased diets.
Read the full statement here.