The European Parliament’s new farm to fork strategy calls for EU countries to start adopting a more sustainable way of farming.

The strategy emphasises that the EU food systems must reduce environmental and climate footprints while continuing to ensure food security, healthy diets, and provide a fair income for farmers.

It outlines new attitudes to be adopted, such as more land for organic farming, binding reduction targets for pesticide use, animal welfare standards to be reviewed, and a call for farmers to earn a fair share of the profit of sustainably produced food.

MEPs on the Environment, Public Health & Food Safety, and Agriculture Committees adopted the report on a Farm to Fork Strategy today by 94 votes.

They welcomed the strategy, which they believe is important to offer fair, animal-friendly, healthy, high quality, and affordable diets to European consumers.

Agriculture and environment MEPs also believe that while the EU has a strict system on pesticides, there is still room for improvement and better monitoring of implementation.

They also addressed greenhouse emissions and said that they must be reduced and have improved natural carbon sinks.

As for animal welfare, the MEPs agreed that there is a need for common science-based welfare indicators to ensure a stronger harmonisation in the EU.

They also agreed on the importance of organic farming moving forward towards more sustainable food systems, and supported the ambition of increasing EU’s organic land by 2030.

Lastly, the MEPs call on the Commission to reinforce efforts to strengthen farmers’ position in the food supply chain, so they can earn a fair share of the profit of sustainably produced food, as it was noted that farmers tend to have a lower income.