07 Feb Towards a Common Food Policy for the EU

IPES-Food has just released a report arguing for a Common Food Policy for the European Union:. The report proposes a “direction of travel for the whole food system, bringing together the various sectoral policies that affect food production, processing, distribution, and consumption, and refocusing all actions on the transition to sustainability.”

The report provides 4 reasons why a common food policy is required:

1. INTEGRATION ACROSS POLICY AREAS: A Common Food Policy is needed to put an end to conflicting objectives and costly inefficiencies.

2. INTEGRATION ACROSS GOVERNANCE LEVELS: A Common Food Policy is required to harness grassroots experimentation and align actions at EU, national, and local levels.

3. GOVERNANCE FOR TRANSITION: An integrated food policy can overcome short-term thinking and path dependencies in a way that sectoral policies cannot.

4. DEMOCRATIC DECISION-MAKING: A Common Food Policy can revive public participation in policymaking, reconnect citizens to the European project, and reclaim public policies for the public good.

 

The Common Food Policy vision draws on the collective intelligence of more than 400 farmers, food entrepreneurs, civil society activists, scientists and policymakers consulted through a three-year process of research and deliberation.

Full report is available here

Summary report here