How the EU Parliament is addressing the crisis

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a European Parliament resolution in March calling for an urgent EU action plan on food security contains provisions which dismiss the important role of sustainable diets and threaten the overall goals of the Farm to Fork strategy and the EU’s strategy for protecting biodiversity.

The resolution reflects pressure from the agri-food industry for more EU land to be given over to growing animal feed to compensate for the loss of cheap feed from Ukraine due to the war. This increase in EU feed production would involve sacrificing areas reserved for protecting biodiversity, with immense implications for the delicate climate system that is already under pressure from our unsustainable agri-food model.

The idea has been criticised by the chief economist of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Maximo Torero.

A crises-proof food system

The Ukraine war is a stark reminder that our broken food system needs to be converted urgently into one that is crises-proof and provides long-lasting food security. Shifting to plant-based diets has the potential to reduce agricultural land use. This land could then be used to rewild natural ecosystems, promoting biodiversity and removing years’ worth of greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere.

“This shift is crucial for creating a healthier and more sustainable food system that will help stem the climate crisis rather than continuing to fuel it as our current system is doing,” Olga Kikou added.

For more information, please email eu.office@ciwf.org