The Irish Farmers Journal has seen a draft plan of the European Commission’s new “Farm to Fork strategy for sustainable food systems”, which is proposing a range of changes to European food and farming policy over the coming decade.

Some of the proposals of this new Farm to Fork plan include major changes around the usage of pesticides, fertilisers and antibiotics on farms, as well as an increased focus on animal welfare across the continent.

The European Commission is also proposing to introduce mandatory country-of-origin labels for meat and dairy ingredients used in food, labels for the climate footprint of food and even guidelines on what constitutes a “sustainable diet”.

From an Irish perspective, there are positives and negatives within this draft Farm to Fork plan. In particular, country-of-origin labelling on food is sure to cause headaches for Irish food exporters, while farmers will rightfully be suspicious of what the term “sustainable dietary guidelines” could mean, especially given the EAT Lancet debacle.

The proposed Farm to Fork strategy is part of the European Green Deal, which has been set out by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and aims to make Europe climate-neutral by 2050.

See agribusiness p22-23