Close to 38 million people in the European Union (EU) do not have access to sufficiently healthy and sustainable food, warned this Wednesday the non-governmental organization (NGO) WWF, ensuring that it is a trend that has been growing since 2015.
In a report published this Wednesday, the WWF declared that the current EU food system is a threat, as it relies heavily on the import of “expensive” agricultural raw materials – such as fertilizers – to support intensive agriculture, “encouraging low consumption”. healthy”.
“The EU food system is causing biodiversity loss and climate change at the same time is making it extremely difficult for many citizens to access healthy and sustainable food,” said Giulia Riedo, WWF’s Sustainable Food and Agricultural Policy Officer .
In Europe, the proportion of cropland used to feed livestock is higher than the world average, as more animal products are consumed per capita and there is a strong export market for animal products, according to the document.
The NGO pointed out that if the production of plant-based crops is promoted and meat consumption is reduced, the import of feed and the use of fertilizers would decrease by 23.4% and, with the reduction of costs, healthy food would be more accessible.
Furthermore, the report noted that the EU is particularly “vulnerable” to distortions in the fertilizer market, as they account for 18% of raw material costs for crops.
In EU countries there are 179.9 million hectares of agricultural land, of which 74% is fertilized.
WWF guarantees that reducing animal consumption of food, particularly that coming from intensive industrial livestock systems – which depend largely on imported feed and fertilizers – would reduce the total amount of land needed and would have beneficial effects on the environment, human well-being and being and human health.
“Feed and fertilizer imports disrupt nutrient cycles, are an inefficient use of calories and have significant environmental impacts,” noted WWF.
The EU legislative framework for sustainable food systems, the organization pointed out, must establish a vision for 2050 and ensure coherence between food-related policies.
The report considered that this community policy must include binding intermediate and final targets that apply to the entire food system, from production to consumption, and include an evaluation mechanism that monitors all progress.
According to WWF, the European Commission’s “Farm to Fork” strategy gives Europe “the opportunity to be a net exporter of calories, nutrients and protein while improving food security and long-term resilience”.
