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A Primer on Farm to Fork: European Agriculture in Transition?
This is an excerpt of the Farm Foundation Issue Report, A Primer on Farm to Fork: European Agriculture in Transition? The full Issue Report, written by Bill Bryant, provides an overview of the EU’S Farm to Fork initiative, its possible impact on agricultural production levels and food prices, and examines some of the issues that will need to be addressed if Farm to Fork is to secure its multifaceted objectives.
For the last several years, the European Union has begun integrating industrial, agricultural, transportation, environmental, and health policies into an overarching initiative to make Europe the first carbon emissions neutral continent by 2050. It is called the European Green Deal. The agricultural component of this carbon neutral initiative is called Farm to Fork (F2F).
The Farm to Fork initiative is what the European Commission has described as nothing short of “…an opportunity to reconcile our food system with the needs of the planet.”
Currently Farm to Fork is a proposal of the Commission of the European Union. Its multiple policies will only become “law” after the Council of the European Union adopts them. That is not a formality. Even some member states that support Farm to Fork’s objectives will consider specific proposals on a case-by-case basis. And several specific proposals will need to be presented for Council consideration to secure F2F’s six overlapping, and possibly difficult to secure simultaneously, objectives.