MEPs debate and vote on plans on how Europe can produce healthier food while ensuring food security, a fair income for farmers and reducing agriculture’s environmental footprint. Extracts from the debate on Farm to fork strategy (Monday 18 October) and from the vote results (Wednesday 20 October).

debate

plenary session

HAZEKAMP, Anja (The Left, NL)

CAP reform (T)

DORFMANN, Herbert (EPP, IT)

farm to fork (T)

Farm to Fork Strategy : extracts from the debate and from the final vote

https://api.multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/documents/20125/4452775/I212470Chapters%5BSD-EN%5D.srt

SOUNDBITE (English), Anja HAZEKAMP (The Left, NL), Rapporteur, Today we are talking about food, about the vital energy source that fuels us and much like the fuels that feeds our factories and cars, our food system must undergo a transition because the way we are feeding ourselves today is undermining our future.

SOUNDBITE (English), Anja HAZEKAMP (The Left, NL), Rapporteur, By investing in a transition to a more plant based diet, we can spare animals the suffering, fight food related disease, save precious farmland and biodiversity, and limit the climate impacts of what is on our plates. By providing food with clear labels and a fair and true price, we can enable consumers to make more informed choices for the environment, animals and their own health.

SOUNDBITE (English), Anja HAZEKAMP (The Left, NL), Rapporteur, The sustainable choice must be the most affordable one and crucially, the EU's farm to fork strategy must create a path for common food policy which ahieves policy coherence.

SOUNDBITE (German), Herbert DORFMANN (EPP, IT), Rapporteur, The aim here is to make sure that the food chain is higher quality in Europe and that our food is healthier and more balanced. There's a lot of agreement there.

SOUNDBITE (German), Herbert DORFMANN (EPP, IT), Rapporteur, In terms of reduction goals and numerical goals that have been set there all on the backs of the farmers. Across the chain, thinking about retail, thinking about consumers there were a lot of things where we could have more.

SOUNDBITE (Italian), Paolo DE CASTRO (S&amp;D, IT), Rapporteur, <p>The European Union must play a role as a protagonist in the global transition to production standards based on the respect to human rights and workers rights, fair competition and protection of the environment. We therefore need true reciprocity of standards for all products imported into the Union. </p>

SOUNDBITE (English), Stella KYRIAKIDES, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Food connects us. It's one of the few things that we all deal with on a daily basis, explaining the strong interest we have on this topic. European food already sets a global standard for food that is safe and high quality.

SOUNDBITE (English), Stella KYRIAKIDES, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, And this is the result of years of EU policy making, combined with the efforts of all the actors across the food chain. Now we also need to ensure that food is sustainable for both people and the planet, as well as for producers, for farmers, for fishers and aquaculture producers and businesses in the whole food chain.

SOUNDBITE (English), Stella KYRIAKIDES, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, We must speed up the transition to resilience and nature friendly food system. Europe is a first mover in this area. We should work together with all concerned to reinforce our leadership. Systemic change requires perseverance, commitment and courage for change.

Roberta METSOLA (EPP, MT), EP Vice-President announcing the vote result: 452 votes in favour, 170 against and 76 abstentions.