Brussels – Securing our need for food has become a major threat to the environment, driving increased emissions and over-exploitation of natural resources such as water, soil and fish. Our health and well-being have also been affected. Ensuring nutritious food for all in a fair and environmentally sound way has become a societal, economic and policy challenge across the world. A shared understanding of the food system and the roles different actors — policy makers, producers and other stakeholders in the food supply-chain — play will be crucial to a sustainable future, according to a new European Environment Agency report.
The report ‘Seafood in Europe; a food system approach for sustainability’ takes an in-depth look at the increasingly complex evolution of the global food system and what this means for Europe. With a focus on seafood, the report explores the knowledge base on food systems and assesses the implications of such a food system analysis for Eu policy and knowledge development. The Eu has committed to align its practices to new global sustainability goals, as recently set out in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and as part of the Eu’s 2050 goal of living well within the limits of our planet. The food system — which in general terms includes all the materials, processes and infrastructures relating to production, trade, transport, retail, and consumption of food products and the outputs of these activities— will have to change to meet these goals.