About the Strategy
The Farm to Fork Strategy is at the heart of the European Green Deal aiming to make food systems fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly.
Food systems cannot be resilient to crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic if they are not sustainable. We need to redesign our food systems which today account for nearly one-third of global GHG emissions, consume large amounts of natural resources, result in biodiversity loss and negative health impacts (due to both under- and over-nutrition) and do not allow fair economic returns and livelihoods for all actors, in particular for primary producers.
Putting our food systems on a sustainable path also brings new opportunities for operators in the food value chain. New technologies and scientific discoveries, combined with increasing public awareness and demand for sustainable food, will benefit all stakeholders.
The Farm to Fork Strategy aims to accelerate our transition to a sustainable food system that should:
- have a neutral or positive environmental impact
- help to mitigate climate change and adapt to its impacts
- reverse the loss of biodiversity
- ensure food security, nutrition and public health, making sure that everyone has access to sufficient, safe, nutritious, sustainable food
- preserve affordability of food while generating fairer economic returns, fostering competitiveness of the EU supply sector and promoting fair trade
The strategy sets out both regulatory and non-regulatory initiatives, with the common agricultural and fisheries policies as key tools to support a just transition.
A proposal for a legislative framework for sustainable food systems will be put forward to support implementation of the strategy and development of sustainable food policy. Taking stock of learning from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Commission will also develop a contingency plan for ensuring food supply and food security. The EU will support the global transition to sustainable agri-food systems through its trade policies and international cooperation instruments.
To enable and accelerate the transition to a fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food system, advisory services, financial instruments, but also research and innovation are instrumental as they can help resolve tensions, develop and test solutions, overcome barriers and uncover new market opportunities.
Publications
- Communication - A Farm to Fork strategy for a fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food system (+Annex)
- The Farm to Fork Strategy - Publication
- Press Release: Reinforcing Europe's resilience: halting biodiversity loss and building a healthy and sustainable food system
- Questions and answers on Farm to Fork Strategy
- Factsheet on Farm to Fork Strategy
- Timeline of Farm to Fork actions
Documents accompanying the Farm to Fork Strategy
- Roadmap for the Fitness check of the animal welfare legislation
- Implementation Report on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides Directive
- Report on the REFIT evaluation of the pesticide legislation
- Report on front-of-pack nutrition labelling
- Commission Staff Working Document of the Evaluation of the Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation
- Staff Working Document on the link between the CAP reform and the Green Deal
Farm2Fork: Do you have the appetite for change?
Related links
- European Green Deal
- Sustainable Development Goals
- Communication on the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030
- SAM work on sustainable food systems
- Factsheet on SAM work on sustainable food
- Eurobarometer October 2020: Making our food fit for the future – new trends and challenges
- Factsheet on Farm to Fork Strategy
- Factsheet on The business case for biodiversity
- Factsheet on benefits for farmers
- Factsheet on the Common Agriculture Policy’s contribution to the European Green Deal
- Farm to Fork episodes
Latest news
- Progress on Farm to Fork pesticide targets
- Policy Dialogues EU – Colombia, Ecuador, Perú on sustainable agriculture and food systems 28-29 September 2022