Agriculture in the future must be profitable for farmers, otherwise the Farm to Fork Strategy won’t succeed, founder of the European Food Forum and Member of the European Parliament (MEP), Irene Tolleret said.
The Farm to Fork Strategy forms part of the European Green Deal aiming to make food systems fair, healthy and environmentally friendly.
Tolleret welcomed the second day of the ReImagine Europa global conference, this week(May, 24), in Brussels.
The discussion on day two focused on innovation and genome editing.
“We need to trust on innovation and science for sustainable food systems. Our responsibility as legislators, is to support a clear framework that includes innovation,” Tolleret stated.
The conference compared established innovations to reach sustainability in agriculture across a range of countries.
Discussions
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) strategic framework 2022-2031 was highlighted at the event.
It marks innovation as a “key accelerator” and aims to:
- Strengthen science and evidence-based decision making;
- Support innovation and technology at regional and country level;
- Serve members better by reinforcing FAO’s capacities.
Dr. Peter Thygesen, principal regulatory scientist, Office of the Gene Technology Regulator, Australian Government spoke about genome editing in Australia.
Dr. Sadiye Hayta, senior scientist, John Innes Centre, Norwich Research Park, UK spoke about genome editing in agriculture and food systems in the UK.
Dr. Martin Lema, adjunct professor at the National University of Quilmes’ School of Biotechnology, Argentina outlined the economic effects of genome editing.
Incentives for farmers
Earlier in the week, the focus was on sustainability in agriculture in general to confirm that there is “a common understanding to the meaning of sustainability”.
European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Janusz Wojciechowski called for stronger incentives for greater sustainability.
The commissioner said stronger incentives, more strategic policy implementation, and smarter innovations are needed for “greater sustainability”.