The EEA report 'Food in a green light,' analyses the challenges Europe faces in shifting to a sustainable food system and looks at current opportunities for change. The European Union must transform its food system to achieve the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal of ensuring sustainable food production systems by 2030 and the European Union's long term sustainability goal of 'living well, within the limits of the planet' by 2050. The report, released on World Food Day, is a first EEA assessment of what a greening of Europe's food system might involve. It looks at the current state of play of Europe's food system against the goals of food and nutrition security, ecosystem health, and social and economic well-being.
Europe's food system is a large and complex one. The food supply chain, including agriculture and fisheries production, processing and manufacturing, through to the food and drink industry, had a turnover of €3.9 trillion in 2013. All these activities within the EU have an impact on the environment but also beyond its borders due to imports of food and feed. The system is a major consumer of energy and water and a large emitter of greenhouse gases and air pollution. The amount of energy necessary to cultivate, process, pack and bring food to our tables accounted for 17 % of the EU's gross energy consumption in 2013, equivalent to about 26 % of the EU's final energy consumption that same year.
The report argues that reducing the environmental impacts of the food system requires more efficient and sustainable use of natural resources, changes in production methods, food choices and diets, and reducing environmental risks by phasing out the use of harmful chemicals throughout the food chain. Current policies mainly target producers and consumers and focus on improving the resource efficiency of the food system and consumer awareness. This approach can improve the environmental performance of the food system, but it will not deliver the type of transformation that is needed to meet sustainability goals.
