On Tuesday 14 April, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, forty or so NGOs called for the European Commission to present both its ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy and the EU’s new biodiversity strategy on 29 April, and not to postpone them again.
In an open letter, the NGOs from the environmental, health, consumer and animal welfare sectors urge the Commission to take action to overhaul the EU's food and agriculture system, saying that now, more than at any other time, the EU needs to mitigate the risks created by new pandemics, move towards sustainable and resilient food systems, and promote healthier diets.
In the letter, the NGOs state that “there has never been a more pertinent moment for the Commission to show that it is actively steering the EU towards a greener future, of which sustainable and resilient food systems are an essential part”.
The NGOs point out that Covid-19 has strikingly brought to light some of the dysfunctions of our current globalised and unsustainable food systems, particularly the link between the increased emergence of zoonoses and intensive animal farming, and the lack of regard for other species, which has consequences worldwide. They believe that there is therefore an urgent need for a Common Food Policy that is social and health-orientated.
To read the open letter, go to: https://bit.ly/2wFbgMz (Original version in French by Aminata Niang)