European Roundtable Created for Sustainable Food Production

The Round Table will concentrate on the knowledge surrounding the sustainable production of food: by 2011, we should be using only production techniques which have been conclusively established as being sustainable.

18/05/09 European business and industry will be making substantial investments in sustainable food production over the coming years. The European Food SCP Round Table was recently established to encourage this process. The Round Table will concentrate on the knowledge surrounding the sustainable production of food: by 2011, we should be using only production techniques which have been conclusively established as being sustainable. The Round Table involves close collaboration between the public and private sectors.

“We only have one planet, so we’ve got to conserve our resources wisely in the interests of both the consumer and the food producing industry”, says Jean Martin, president of the CIAA, the Confederation of the Food and Drink Industries of the EU. Pekka Pesonen, who represents European farmers, argues for a global approach to the issue. “What we need is a global approach to sustainability. Europe can’t do it alone.” The European Commission, for its part, is committed to getting consumers on board. Andriana Sukova-Tosheva, member of the Consumer Protection Cabinet: “We need to provide consumers with reliable information. That will encourage them to become more involved.”

The European Food SCP Round Table brings together the aforementioned CIAA, the European Liaison Committee for the Agricultural and Agri-Food Trade (CELCAA), the representative organisation for EU farmers (COPA-COGECA), the European Fertilizer Manufacturers’ Association (EFMA), the European Community of Consumer Cooperatives (EURO COOP), the European Organisation for Packaging and the Environment (EUROPEN), the European Feed Manufacturers’ Federation (FEFAC), the International Federation for Animal Health Europe (IFAH-Europe) and the Packaging Recovery Organisation Europe (PRO EUROPE).