Food chain sustainability

Embracing technology to feed a growing world

It is time for America and Europe to work together to solve the next great challenge facing us - to produce enough food, with fewer inputs, to feed a growing world population - which means embracing innovation and technology in a safe, sustainable agriculture, writes Sonny Perdue.

In Paris, organic farming takes over fallow parking lots

In Paris, as in many European cities, the number of cars is declining, which is leaving a vast amount of underground car parks empty. With its start-up project called "La Caverne", Cycloponics is reclaiming these urban territories using them as a way of growing plenty of organic vegetables. EURACTIV France reports.

Europe aims to make its food a global green standard, despite trade concerns

Ahead of a much-anticipated ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy to accompany the EU Green Deal, some EU policymakers say Europe’s food should be protected from American pressure.

Sustainable Food Systems: Does the EU ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy have all the answers?

As the food sector strives to move towards more sustainable food systems and implementing the United Nations SDGs, it faces growing challenges such as climate change, resource depletion, and malnutrition, all affecting the sector and society alike.

Sinkevicius: EU aims to ensure viable food packaging recycling by 2030

The Circular Economy Action Plan and the Farm to Fork strategy (F2F) have the same overarching objective of reducing unsustainable resource use by promoting sustainable production and consumption and reducing waste generation, Environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius told EURACTIV.

European Parliament kicks off debate on pesticide, food waste cuts

MEPs agreed their first stance on the new Commission’s environmental flagship policy, the European Green Deal, aiming at halving food waste by 2030 and setting binding reduction targets for hazardous pesticides.

Cultured meat could be on the EU market ‘as early as 2022’

After environmentalist George Monbiot’s controversial “Apocalypse Cow” documentary recently suggested that we may soon see the end of all farming, EURACTIV took a look at cultured meat to see what it is and where we're at.

Could Germany impose a tax on meat?

Shortly before Germany launches its "green week", Lower Saxony's conservative agriculture minister, Barbara Otte-Kinast (CDU), raised the issue of introducing a meat tax, again, which is something animal welfare activists have been demanding for years. EURACTIV Germany reports.

Welfare of rabbits farmed in Europe not up to scratch, says EFSA

The welfare of adult rabbits kept in conventional cage systems is worse than that of those housed in other systems used in the EU, EFSA has concluded in an extensive study which investigated rabbit welfare in the EU.

Future of France’s organic products may lie in hands of large supermarkets

If the production of organic products continues to grow every year in France, mass distribution will supply even more of these products by 2022, according to an analysis note from the Xerfi Precepta Institute. But could such a development prove to be risky? EURACTIV's partner Le Journal de l'environnement reports.

French dairy industry ranks first worldwide but farmers don’t reap the benefits

The concentration of the French dairy industry, which is at the origin of the impoverishment of milk producers, paradoxically ranks the sector above its global competitors, according to a study by France Agrimer. EURACTIV France reports.

Collaborative initiative aims to improve sustainability of EU dairy farming

Eight agricultural sector leaders have announced Farming for Generations, a global collaboration to support dairy farmers to adopt regenerative agricultural practices that preserve and renew our planet’s resources, respect animal welfare and ensure the long-term economic viability of farms for the next generation.

EU’s new agriculture Commissioner vows to promote organic farming

The EU Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski, highlighted the promotion of organic farming as a key aim for the new European Commission in his inaugural speech yesterday (10 December).

With a ‘Farm to Fork’ Strategy on the cards, is the EU finally listening to its citizens?

The Farm to Fork strategy will reveal whether the new Commission is ready to overhaul some of the EU’s most unsustainable policies and the vested interests behind them but leaked drafts suggest that it will not be truly systemic and...

EU-wide approach to due diligence needed to regulate cacao sector, manufacturers and NGOs say

Some of the world’s biggest chocolate manufacturers have called on the EU to “strengthen human rights and environmental due diligence requirements of companies in global cocoa supply chains”

More focus needed on food waste in the creation of a circular economy

Ahead of a Finnish Council Presidency’s conference that aims to set the EU agenda for action on food waste towards 2030, a number of companies have made commitments to reduce their food waste, but a number of barriers still stand in their way.

Indigenous leaders urge EU to protect forest homeland

Brazilian indigenous leaders pleaded Tuesday (12 November) with European lawmakers to protect the Amazon and the communities living there, warning that the West's insatiable appetite was risking the health of the planet.

Co-ops show that other side of the food chain can be ‘greened’ too

Focusing the debate over the new EU food policy only on greening the agricultural production may detract from the other side of the food chain which has ground to become more sustainable, as the experience of retailing co-operatives shows.

Brave new food world

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At the dawn of a new legislative term, Commission President-elect Ursula von der Leyen seems determined to increase the ambition on a new integrated food strategy that will involve the entire food supply chain, from farm soils to supermarket shelves.

MEPs have high hopes for the EU’s new food policy

Lawmakers in the European Parliament expect an ambitious Commission's proposal on the new EU long-term and integrated food policy, that ensures safe, quality and affordable foodstuffs to all European citizens but without harming actors in the food supply chain.

Only 1.5% of France’s waters are truly protected, expert says

To what degree are French waters genuinely protected? In an interview with EURACTIV's partner le Journal de l'Environnement, conducted after the fourth National Marine Protected Areas Congress (23-24 October), Élodie Martinie-Cousty of the France Nature Environnement (FNE) explained the situation.

Commission sets out 2020 fishing quotas in the Atlantic and North Sea

On 24 October, the EU proposed to significantly reduce total allowable catches (TACs) in the North-East Atlantic and the North Sea for cod starting in 2020. EURACTIV's partner le Journal de l'Environnement reports. 

World’s sixty largest meat, dairy and fish farms ranked in new sustainability index

A group of concerned investors has examined the sustainability of the world's largest fattening farms and dairy factories that supply the global food industry. And the results aren't mouth-watering, EURACTIV Germany reports.

Two French MPs want their Parliament to discuss Europe’s overfishing problem

Two French MPs presented a report to the French parliamentary committee on European affairs on 17 July. The report recommended 27 measures to prevent the collapse of Europe's fish resources. EURACTIV's partner le Journal de l'environnement reports.