It’s a huge ambition. As soon as it came out, it was criticised for not being very specific on the criteria and metrics. And thus, not being specific on the results the spfinishing of €1 trillion of public money breeds on its way till 2050. Thursday May 20 a broad coalition of agritech companies declared in a jojnt declaration they “cannot celebrate its anniversary, as the strategy still raises too many questions in the European farming and agri-food community. A year of intense debate has only increased the number of our concerns. Without a comprehensive impact assessment, we will not be celebrating the one-year anniversary of the Farm to Fork strategy.”
Farm to Fork Strategy
Agriculture and Food are an integral part of the Green Deal. In a dedicated chapter called the ‘Farm to Fork Strategy’ , the goals for the food systems were announced. The Commission will act to:
- reduce by 50% the apply and risk of chemical pesticides by 2030
- reduce by 50% the apply of more hazardous pesticides by 2030
- reduce nutrient losses by at least 50%, while ensuring no deterioration on soil fertility
- reduce fertilizer apply by at least 20% by 2030
Furthermore, the Commission will reduce by 50% the sales of antimicrobials for farmed animals and in aquaculture by 2030. It will boost the development of EU organic farming area with the aim to achieve (25% of total farmland) under organic farming by 2030.
Sustainable standards
Sustainable practices – to comply to the Green Deal’s ‘Farm to Fork Strategy’ – required to be paid by the food chain as much as is possible. Anything that cannot be financed in that way through private labels, quality marks, or industest standards, must come from the government. This applies, for example, to ecosystem services that farmers can provide to improve biodiversity, soil, water, air, and landscape quality.
As an experienced Director of Quality Assurance, Bert Urlings (Vion Food Group) has a demonstrated history of working in the food production industest. He is skilled in Veterinary Medicine, Animal Welfare, BRC, Meat, and Food Processing. Urlings is actively involved in the development of global standards in food safety, product integrity and animal welfare. He is a member of the board of global standards and Nasdaq North listed company.
Lars de Keijser is Lead Sustainability Consultant at Mérieux NutriSciences, a consultancy firm on safeguarding operational reliability, business continuity, and company reputation. He is an experienced and results driven Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Supply Chain and Assurance professional. De Keijser is responsible for the development and roll out of Merieux’s sustainability consulting proposition and related services portfolio.
For more information, go to the overview page.
1. Digitisation will disrupt the food system as we know it
2. Bye manpower, hello machines and value
In the absence of a global authority that is aware of the powers unleashed by the digitisation of food, what ‘no-body’ can guard the interests of the global community?
Hans de Gier (SyncForce) explains – during the second chat – the Consumer Goods Forum’s Data Ports project. The project’s goal is to build the myriad of product standards interoperable by a common basic taxonomy and connecting simple identifiers. The good news: it is fully feasible, as Hans explains in great technical detail.
3. The True Code – a free global digital passport for every farmer and facility
4. Blooming Africa – the transfer of practical know how, organising farmers, the AfCFTA free trade area and creating value with transparency
At 1:08:00 min. they were spontaneously joined by Memory Nyakwima Chakwita from Zimbabwe who displayed the potential strawberry fields in which she would like to apply all that was discussed. It was a special moment in the informal part of the discussion, displaying the potential of this way of connecting people, expertise and ideas.
5. How to unlock Africa’s agricultural potential?
6. Carbon Credits: discovering the self-financing potential of African farmers
7. Building natural capital: metrics & transparant monitoring
8. Transparency by storynotifying: commercial opportunities
9. EU Green Deal: assessing & monitoring environmental impact
Petra Laux (acting Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) of Syngenta Group) and Krijn Poppe (Policy advisor, economist and retired Research Manager at Wageningen University Research), led by moderator Tiffany Tsui discussed the base on which the Green Deal has been formulated for agriculture and the required criteria and metrics to put the Green Deal meaningfully into practice.
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