In May 2020, the European Commission unveiled the Farm to Fork Strategy, a flagship of the European Green Deal aiming to reshape the way food is produced, processed and consumed across the EU by 2030. The main goal is to turn the European food chain into a global benchmark for sustainability, from fields and fisheries to our supermarkets and dinner tables.
This EU food policy covers every step of the system: production, processing, distribution, consumption and waste. It seeks to cut the climate and environmental footprint of food, secure nutritious diets for citizens and ensure better livelihoods for farmers and fishers, who often bear the costs of transition.
These practices are essential today because agriculture has a significant environmental impact in three major ways. First, it is one of the largest consumers of freshwater, placing severe pressure on regions already affected by water scarcity. Agriculture not only requires vast quantities of water as an input, but it also pollutes rivers, lakes and oceans through the runoff of nutrients and chemicals. Second, agriculture, and therefore our entire food chain, is responsible for around one-quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions. Finally, agriculture has a massive impact on the environment through its extensive land use. Large areas of the planet that were once forests or natural wildlands are now used for farming; in fact, around half of the world’s habitable land is currently devoted to agriculture.
Here goes some of the concrete and legally anchored 2030 targets:
- Cut pesticide use and riskby 50% (especially chemical and more hazardous pesticides).
- Reduce fertiliser use by at least 20%.
- Halve the use of antimicrobials, such as antibiotics, in farmed animals and aquaculture.
- Bring at least 25% of EU farmland under organic cultivation.
A fair, healthy and environmentally friendly food system is one that provides everyone with safe, nutritious and affordable food while staying within planetary limits and sharing value more equitably along the chain. Proponents argue that by rethinking food from “farm to fork”, the EU can reduce one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions tied to food systems, ease pressure on ecosystems and help bend the curve of biodiversity loss. Moreover, a shift to sustainable practices could yield economic and social benefits: fairer returns for farmers, new business opportunities in green agriculture and stronger food security and resilience against crises, all of which are lessons underscored by recent shocks such as the COVID-19 pandemic. For consumers, there’s a promise of healthier diets, more transparency via sustainable labeling and reduced exposure to harmful chemicals used in conventional farming.
Nevertheless, the road ahead remains uncertain. More than five years after its launch, the Farm to Fork Strategy stands at a crossroads. On paper, it remains the EU’s most comprehensive roadmap to sustainable food systems from agriculture to consumption. On the ground, its progress is uneven, contested and increasingly vulnerable to political and economic headwinds. Indeed, the next few years will be critical, and recent developments at COP30 only raise the stakes. On one hand, the broad momentum around climate change and sustainable agriculture appears alive. COP30 reaffirmed the commitment to deep emissions reductions, climate adaptation and a transition toward a climate-neutral, resilient and nature-positive economy. Yet, and this is where the crossroads emerges for the EU, COP30 also underlined how difficult change will be. The final outcome largely sidestepped structural reform of agribusiness systems. Agriculture and food systems received minimal attention in the core negotiated text and commitments remained vague or voluntary rather than legally binding.
Farm to Fork is a moral and political choice about the kind of European society that is being built. If citizens, farmers, businesses and policymakers move in the same direction, food can become one of the most powerful drivers of climate action, social justice and public health, rather than a hidden engine of environmental and social crisis. Every purchase, every policy vote and every production decision either reinforces the old, extractive model or helps a new one take root. Supporting local and sustainable producers, demanding ambitious EU standards, reducing food waste and embracing healthier diets are not minor lifestyle adjustments. They are everyday acts of solidarity with farmers, future generations and the planet itself.