Food in a green light – A systems approach to sustainable food

Sustainable food production

The joint report by EEA and PBL, titled ‘Food in a green light’, concludes that the European Union must transform its food system to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of ensuring sustainable food production systems by 2030 and the European Union’s long-term sustainability goal of ‘living well, within the limits of the planet’ by 2050. The report looks at the current state of play of the EU’s food system, against the goals for food and nutrition security, ecosystem health, and social and economic well-being.

The challenge of going green

The EU food system is large and complex. In 2013, the turnover in the food supply chain, including agriculture and fisheries, production, processing and manufacturing, and the food and drink industry, amounted to EUR 3.9 trillion.

All these activities have an impact on the environment within the EU itself, but also beyond its borders, due to imported food and feed. The system is a major consumer of energy and water and a major emitter of greenhouse gases and air pollutants. In 2013, the amount of energy needed to cultivate, process, package and deliver food to our table accounted for 17% of the EU’s gross energy consumption, and the equivalent of around 26% of the EU’s final energy consumption in that year.

The report argues that reducing the environmental impacts of the food system requires more efficient and sustainable use of natural resources, changes in production methods, food choices and diets, and reducing environmental risks by phasing out the use of harmful chemicals throughout the food chain. Current policies mainly target producers and consumers, and focus on improving the resource efficiency of the food system as well as consumer awareness. Although such an approach may improve the environmental performance of the food system, it will not deliver the type of transformation that is needed to achieve the sustainability goals.

Identification of effective actions

While Europe does not have a common food policy, it does have many related policies, such as the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), the EU Biodiversity Strategy to 2020, and the Circular Economy Action Plan.

Achieving long-term sustainability goals also depends on decisions made today, and the report identifies how current EU policy processes, objectives and targets offer opportunities for changing the food system and delivering better outcomes for producers, consumers and the environment.