Agriculture & Food

The WWF is run at a local level by the following offices...

Zimbabwe

Sustainable food systems

Our food systems are putting an impossible strain on the planet and on our health.

The impact of food systems can be felt in our daily lives. They are an essential pillar of our societies and economies, but they are also massively contributing to biodiversity loss, the depletion of natural resources and climate change. European agricultural production alone makes up an estimated 11% of the total greenhouse emissions in the EU.

Moreover, the way we produce and consume food is detrimental to our own health. With prices going through the roof and public subsidies prioritising factory farming and intensive agriculture, families are increasingly struggling to access healthy and sustainable food. Currently, poor diets lead to the deaths of 1 in 5 Europeans.

The EU has a key role to play in the transition towards resilient, equitable and sustainable agri-food systems. Currently, the European Commission is working on its proposal for an EU legislative framework for sustainable food systems that will aim to integrate sustainability into all food-related policies. This is a much-needed, long-overdue step that civil society has been demanding for decades.

"The way we produce and consume food is harming our health and degrading our environment to a level that we cannot afford. The upcoming framework law could improve the lives of millions of citizens."

Giulia Riedo
Agriculture and Sustainable Food Policy Officer

What WWF is doing

WWF believes that European policies can be instrumental in the transition to truly sustainable food and farming systems. Currently, our focus is on the EU's Farm to Fork Strategy, and more concretely on its flagship EU legislative framework for sustainable food systems. In addition, we continue to follow the discussions around the Common Agricultural Policy, one of the EU’s oldest, most influential, most debated, and unfortunately also most ineffective policies to date.

WWF is advocating at European and national levels with partner offices and organisations for more sustainable food systems. We want to increase political and public awareness and engagement for a systemic change in our food systems, from sustainable farming and fisheries to healthier diets, from marketing to public procurement of “good food”, from food waste to climate change mitigation.

In parallel, WWF is campaigning to change food habits among young people through its international project #Eat4Change. WWF is working with and for youth to support the shift towards more sustainable and healthy diets through awareness raising and capacity building.