IFOAM EU this week urged the European Commission to ensure that agroecological approaches, such as organic, are placed at the heart of its new ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy.
IFOAM EU’s president Jan Plagge said: “Agroecology should be the new horizon of the EU farming policy and of the upcoming Farm to Fork strategy (part of the European Green Deal).
“IFOAM EU welcomes that the Commission is developing a systemic ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy on sustainable food along the whole supply chain. It is an opportunity to make our food system truly sustainable, building on the transformative vision brought by agroecology and on the successes of organic farming. Organic and agroecology are part of the solution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and to store more carbon in soils. They can make our farming systems more resilient to extreme weather events and contribute to halt the collapse of European and global biodiversity, of which intensive farming is largely responsible for.
Plagge added that “agroecology is a transformative concept that should not justify ‘business as usual’. IFOAM EU’s vision of agroecology is based on the principles of organic farming, it should lead to a drastic reduction of the use of pesticides in Europe, to the regeneration of soils and to the reinforcement of farmers autonomy and economic well-being. It is not compatible with the use of GMOs or glyphosate.”
IFOAM EU says that the organic movement sees itself as a central part of agroecology dynamics in Europe by “putting agroecology in practice on the ground everyday”. It adds that “organics is a powerful social movement that brings closer food operators to consumers, and…is driving the research agenda to make innovation socially responsible and up to the challenges of climate change and biodiversity preservation”.
Noting that millions of small farmers globally use organic practices without being certified as organic, the organic advocacy groups adds that strengthening organic farming “as a practical and certified approach of agroecological practices” should be a priority.