On Wednesday 26 March, on behalf of 125 organisations representing the diversity of Europe’s livestock supply chains, the Farm Europe think tank sent an appeal to the European Commission for a comprehensive, science-based EU food strategy that values animal proteins.
The appeal (https://aeur.eu/f/g4r ) underlines the crucial role played by livestock farming in ensuring food security, nutritional balance, rural vitality and environmental sustainability, as well as the complementarity between arable crops and livestock farming.
These organisations are calling on the European Commission to support the diversity of agricultural production in the EU, including livestock farming, mixed farming and methods that optimise resource efficiency without compromising food security or the livelihoods of rural populations. The statement calls for “scientifically based” environmental assessments that consider the entire life cycle of food products, “avoiding misleading interpretations that unfairly penalise livestock farming”.
“Reduced EU production would inevitably increase reliance on imports, exacerbate global emissions, and threaten the livelihoods of millions of European farmers”, according to Farm Europe. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)