The European Parliament has started the parliamentary review of the new Farm to Fork strategy from the European Commission. This F2F policy and the new food safety criteria are an essential part of the Green Deal led by Dutch EU Commissioner Frans Timmermans.
The Parliament’s response was discussed on Monday in a joint meeting of the Agriculture Committee (AGRI) and the Environment Committee (ENVI). Kicking off the debate was a draft report by the two co-rapporteurs, the Italian Christian Democrat Herbert Dorfmann and Dutch MEP Anja Hazekamp (Party for the Animals).
The EU political groups will discuss the presented text in the coming weeks and submit amendments. The co-rapporteurs’ initial document is at most a first step. So far, both parliamentary committees follow their own paths, but eventually the Parliament aims to adopt a single position.
The Green Deal-related Farm to Fork and the new biodiversity strategies are closely linked to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which is currently being reformed. Dorfmann and Hazekamp draw “a direct connection between healthy people, healthy societies, and a healthy planet and a more sustainable, fairer, and resilient food system.”
“Industrial livestock farming and growing monocultures, with intensive use of chemicals, are disastrous for people, animals, and the environment. We must move away from large-scale and intensive food production methods,” they state in their joint report.
The rapporteurs are also concerned about the rise of zoonotic diseases transmitted from animals to humans. “The current Covid pandemic demonstrates the consequences when animal diseases jump to humans. Currently, the EU keeps more than seven billion animals annually, often in large numbers and confined spaces.” According to the Dutch MEP, this intensive animal farming is a breeding ground for new zoonotic diseases.
Furthermore, she calls for a subsidy ban on intensive and industrial agriculture and livestock farming. “Agricultural models that negatively impact biodiversity should not receive climate funding nor be encouraged. Support local, organic, and plant-based food products,” is one of Hazekamp’s recommendations.