contribute to developping a comprehensive, sustainable EU food policy that adresses food production and nutrition in a more comprehensive manner, establishing a link across different policy areas;
launch a joint pilot project together with the European Parliament and the Commission to facilitate the development of a sustainable EU food policy;
encourage adequate planning processes in the field, through local food councils for instance
The European Commission is currently drafting the Strategy from Farm to fork. This is in line with the CoR recommendation to develop a comprehensive, sustainable EU food policy that adresses food production and nutrition in a more comprehensive manner, establishing a link across different policy areas.
THE EUROPEAN COMMITTEE OF THE REGIONS
calls for a comprehensive, sustainable EU food policy which is democratically shaped, designed with a common and long-term vision, based on the latest scientific insights and in line with a multilevel governance approach that addresses food production and nutrition in a more comprehensive manner, promoting more sustainable production and consumption patterns, establishing a link across different policy areas, including, among others, food production, agriculture, environment, health, consumer policy, employment and rural development, and creating jobs and growth in Europe's Regions and Cities;
calls on the European Parliament and the Commission to launch together with the CoR a joint pilot project to facilitate the development of a sustainable EU food policy;
stresses the importance of further revising the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in order to incentivise not only farmers, but also food manufacturers to produce sustainably;
underlines the need to stimulate and sustain, also financially, the development of small-scale farming systems, especially those located in vulnerable areas and on the periphery of cities;
stresses the need to establish long term health programmes targeting obesity and food related diseases, by promoting the availability of and accessibility to local, fresh and seasonal food;
urges a definition of comprehensive terminology on sustainable food systems that includes agriculture food production, food processing and diets and highlights the need for standardised methodology for collecting and reporting data on the environmental impact of food products;
calls on the European Commission to clarify existing constraints within its public procurement rules in order to apply sustainability criteria;
supports the creation of local food councils at local level for planning processes, comprising activities such as measures to connect producers and consumers, identify food deserts and zones for the location of new markets at regional level and above all ensure the public has a voice in policy making;
believes that a bottom-up policy on food sustainability should first and foremost be addressed through strong local development partnerships and local (regions' and cities') authorities.