Agricultural policy is health policy

A blog post by Paola Hernández Olivan, Food Projects and Policy Officer – HCWH Europe 

 


Believe it or not, one of the solutions to transition to sustainable food production and healthy diets, fight climate change, and preserve nature lies beneath our feet: sustainable agriculture. The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) plays a key role in supporting the EU’s agricultural sector, and if well-designed, it can be an instrument for true transformation. Some European institutions, however, fundamentally ignore this potential, leading to a lack of alignment between the CAP and the European Green Deal, which is undermining effective measures on biodiversity, water quality, air quality and the climate crisis.

Agricultural policies in the European Union

Launched in 1962, the common agricultural policy (CAP) is one of the EU’s oldest common policies. The CAP was introduced to ensure that citizens can access affordable food and that farmers can earn a fair wage for their work. Since then, it has been reformed multiple times, but it was not until 1992, (when principle of sustainable development was first introduced at the Rio Earth Summit), that farmers were encouraged to be more environmentally-friendly in their agricultural practices.

The policy also represents a significant economic impact; the CAP is by far the largest subsidy scheme in the EU – approximately one third of the EU budget. The CAP rules for all EU member states are set in Brussels, making it one of the rare policies where the EU has full control.

More recently, the European Green Deal was launched in December 2019 with the goal of turning Europe into a climate-neutral continent by 2050. To deliver this ambitious vision, we need to rethink policies across the entire economy, including: industry, infrastructure, transport, construction, taxation, and social benefits. Importantly, food and agriculture overlap all of these areas.

The Farm to Fork Strategy and the Biodiversity Strategy, both presented in May 2020, set a number of key targets for 2030, including a 50% reduction in the use of pesticides, a 50% reduction in antimicrobials for farmed animals and aquaculture, and a target for 25% of EU farmland to become organic – a threefold increase on the current situation in 2020.

Given the important role of food and agriculture in achieving the goals of the Green Deal, the CAP must fully align with the Green Deal by mobilising key policy instruments and resources at all levels of government. 

Given the important role of food and agriculture in achieving the goals of the Green Deal, the CAP must fully align with the Green Deal by mobilising key policy instruments and resources at all levels of government. This is essential if we are to deliver a greener, fairer, and healthier future for our agriculture sector, and improve nutrition and health outcomes of our communities: poor nutrition remains a leading cause of ill-health and early death affecting millions of Europeans.

Unfortunately, both the European Parliament and the European Council appear to have another vision, and it looks like that post-2020, the Common Agricultural Policy will largely be a continuation of the current policy, which fails to address (and in some cases contributes to) current environmental crises and therefore strongly undermines the European Green Deal.

Seven years more of “business as usual”

Prior to the recent vote on the CAP (which was intended to upgrade its environmental baseline, funding, and instruments) the three major political groups of the European Parliament (European People's Party, Renew Europe, and the Socialists and Democrats Group) came together to launch an attack on the environment elements of the CAP proposal. The move was widely criticised by many civil society organisations and activists, including Greta Thunberg.

The result is that MEPs voted against linking the CAP to European Green Deal targets and rejected the target of a 30% reduction in agricultural emissions by 2027, as well as to continue ‘coupled support’, an environmentally harmful subsidy that mostly goes to industrial animal farming. You can read more about the vote here.

Not aligning CAP to the European Green Deal means that the EU will continue to subsidise an unfair and unsustainable model of industrial farming that contributes to climate change and biodiversity decline, as well as failing to support producers and farmers in the urgent transition to more sustainable agricultural practices.

Not aligning the Common Agricultural Policy with the Green Deal is a hugely missed opportunity for transformative ambition in the EU.

Campaigners, activists, and even politicians of the Green/EFA party are demanding that MEPs #WithdrawTheCAP. If successful, the withdrawal means that the current strategy would have to be returned to the Commission for re-evaluation. The European Commission has confirmed that a withdrawal of the current proposed reform of the EU's massive farming subsidies programme is still a possibility, though not at this stage.

Not aligning the Common Agricultural Policy with the Green Deal is a hugely missed opportunity for transformative ambition in the EU.

What can healthcare do to advance sustainable agriculture?

In spite of the EU’s failure to properly marry agriculture, health, and environmental goals, healthcare organisations are in a strong position to remodel their food supply chains to support these goals on a local level.

Worldwide, healthcare institutions are actively working to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and many recognise that sustainable food production food is a systemic win-win with benefits for human health, animal welfare, the environment, and ecosystems, that also helps to create community wealth and resilience.

How healthcare systems spend their food budgets can have a profound impact on practices used to grow and produce our food, justice for farm workers, animal welfare, and local food economies - there are several ways for healthcare facilities to grow and support resilient communities:

Procurement

Through their purchasing decisions, healthcare institutions can support sustainable agriculture, by prioritising organic or fair trade or other certifications that reduce the use of pesticides and antibiotics. They can help fight climate change and ensure food-secure communities by sourcing produce locally from smaller farms and help raise public awareness of the wider social implications of food consumption patterns. Public procurement is also an important tool for promoting plant-based diets in healthcare which supports a reduction in both energy and water consumption, as well as food waste, and greenhouse gas emissions.

Investment

Currently there are limited procurement opportunities for certified sustainable-produced products, health authorities can make an impact by moving even just a small portion of their investment to sustainable agriculture. Healthcare facilities can support and host farmers’ markets for example and provide fresh, locally grown produce directly to their patients, employees, and communities. The healthcare sector can play a major role in supporting farmers’ transition to sustainable agriculture, but more investment is needed to support sustainable agri-food systems that create positive impacts for both human and environmental health.

Policy

Healthcare systems, facilities, and individual professionals can support farmers’ transition to sustainable agricultural practices through sign-on letters, providing testimonials, and participating in policy processes.

Healthcare professionals are some of the most trusted members of our society, making them powerful advocates for action on public policy to build healthy and sustainable food systems. Healthcare systems, facilities, and individual professionals can support farmers’ transition to sustainable agricultural practices through sign-on letters, providing testimonials, and participating in policy processes. At HCWH Europe we work to leverage the ethical, economic, and political influence of the healthcare sector and support our network to advocate for policies that will transform markets to protect public health from environmental harm.

Let’s take the opportunity to support policies that encourage a clear connection between agricultural production and nutritional recommendations. Let’s build food systems that are centred around sustainable production and consumption of a variety of food products. We cannot do it alone, so we need you, our members, to ensure this process delivers a true transformation for the benefit of our planet and all generations now and in the future. Join our network, and contribute to the debate that needs to take place to translate theory into real action.