Food Governance

Last week, we published a perspective in Nature Food that reflected critically on the EU Vision for Agriculture and Food.

We expressed concern that calls for competitiveness and simplification foreshadow processes of deregulation and thus weaken environmental and social protections.

This week, as we try to make sense of the future of EU agriculture policy, our concerns seem even more warranted. The tendency to downplay the urgency of our current moment for the sake of short-term competitiveness puts our common futures at risk.

In short, there is a failure to address the need for urgent transformation.

The Vision does not adequately align with the scientific state-of-the-art nor does it adopt a systems approach.

The Vision does not adequately consider trade-offs and asymmetries of power that mark the EU food system and will define any transformation.

We need courage and leadership to ensure sustainable food futures.

Reference: van Zanten, H.H.E., Duncan, J., van Meijl, H. et al. Scientific reflection on the European Commission’s Vision for Agriculture and Food. Nat Food (2025). DOI 10.1038/s43016-025-01189-w
https://rdcu.be/exoGo

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