An EU-funded report by agrifood lobbies has recognised the need to eat less meat and shift towards more sustainable diets, asking the EU Commission to create a plant-based action plan by 2026.
We're eating too much meat, and we need to shift to plant-based proteins to save the future of food and farming in the face of climate disaster. That may sound like an impassioned call from a climate advocacy group, but this was actually a conclusion made with lobby groups that represent Europe's farmers.
In a joint report presented to EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, 29 organisations agreed on the findings after a fraught seven-month process, as part of the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture. The shared vision stated that business as usual is not an option for EU farmers – they need bold, swift and timely policy intervention to progress towards more sustainable practices and tackle the climate emergency, biodiversity loss, soil degradation, inflation, and consumer health.
"We must do more – and we will do more – to protect our farmers and to make the agrifood system more resilient, more competitive, but most importantly also more sustainable," von der Leyen told reporters after accepting the report.
Read more at: greenqueen.com