The (#Food)Future belongs to those who prepare for it

"Never waste a good crisis" sounds like a challenging task while you are still in the very midst of it and the end doesn't seem to be anywhere near. Yet, now is the time to see how we can learn from the past and the current, and prepare for a brighter future.

It is very understandable that, today, all eyes are set on the immediate. Indeed, concerted initiatives are urgently needed to bring down persistently high energy prices for households and businesses, and every attempt should be made to avoid energy (and food?) shortages in Europe.

If not properly tackled in the coming weeks through a firm EU co-ordinated response, more and more companies in Europe's largest manufacturing sector will have no other choice than to reduce or stop the essential production of food and drinks people need to live their lives.

The agri-food chain, and related sectors such as packaging and inputs such as feed and fertilisers, therefore needs to be prioritised, as FoodDrinkEurope has recently called for in a joint statement with COPA COGECA and Primary Food Processors (PFP) .

Not getting this right will have repercussions for a long period of time, well running into the next years to come.

However, it is equally important to take a step back, reflect on how we got here and what can be done next to avoid or, at least, mitigate known and unknown challenges we will no doubt face in the future.

Learning from a crisis

Beit the pandemic, the war in Ukraine or the energy and cost of living challenges, access and affordability of food stands central in many crises and conflicts. This has led to some valuable insights already to date:

1. Many of us have come to realise how important food and food security are for the fabric of properly functioning societies. It is now up to policymakers to acknowledge the strategic value of the food sector in a more systemic policy manner, too, as a matter of urgency.
2. No single country or company in the EU is capable of solving major crises on its own. We need EU co-ordinated responses that are based on solidarity and cost-and-benefit sharing among EU Member States. Single Market disruption is weakening the power and influence of the EU as a whole in addressing the challenges we face. Temporary flexibility mechanisms must become structural to avoid the latter from happening time and time again when a new crisis hits.
3. We have discovered - increasingly the hard way - how energy, food, water and climate are closely interlinked. Accelerating the green transition is a must if we want to avoid shortages and bankruptcies in the future; we need to create new social contracts between the public and private sector to guide co-investment towards food sustainability, e.g. providing incentives to boost regenerative agriculture, step up R&I, provide infrastructure for the transition towards a circular economy, invest in (new) skills and jobs, and much more.
4. Exposed vulnerabilities in global food systems have made us realise that we can't bet on one horse in a race. We need to diversify and reduce 'monopolist' dependencies on fossil fuels and assess the consequences of 'over-reliance' on one or a few countries for critical commodities used in food production, such as wheat and sunflower oil. EU policy-makers - but also businesses - will have to identify geopolitical strategies, including for ensuring food, energy and water security.

So, what do we need to move towards true food systems resilience?

At FoodDrinkEurope , this is the key question we are trying to answer in close dialogue with our members, partners and policymakers. In light of the crises our sector has faced over the past years, we have recently launched an initial set of recommendations to make Europe's food and drink systems more sustainable and resilient. I invite you to have a look at it and give us your feedback. If you like it, use it and share it.

We are also not sitting still and waiting for action to happen. I'm very proud that FoodDrinkEurope has taken up the challenge to guide Europe's food and drink sector on the food sustainability journey through its Action Plan on Sustainable Food Systems, which was launched earlier this year. In support of the objectives of the European Green Deal and EU Farm to Fork Strategy, we feel that it is more necessary than ever before to find practical ways to improve energy efficiency, de-carbonise food production and reduce waste, amongst others.

We are committed not to waste this crisis, but to get out of it stronger. While I realise very well that this is not necessarily the outlook shared by many entrepreneurs in the food and drink sector at this very moment, I am strongly convinced of the resilience and inventiveness of the passionate people that bring food and drink to our tables, in good and bad times. The #FoodFuture belongs to those who prepare for it.

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