Irish people are among the healthiest eaters in Europe.
A new Eurobarometer survey shows that 81% of Irish people eat a healthy and sustainable diet always or most of the time. The EU average figure is only 66%.
Tim Hayes from the EU Commission has said that Irish people fully understand the benefits of healthy food and protecting the environment.
“In the context of the EU’s Farm to Fork strategy, which is part of the European Green Deal, we looked at all the factors which influenced people’s food-buying and eating habits and we discovered that more than four out of five Irish people were prepared to spend more money on food which protects their health and also protects the planet.”
Farm to Fork Strategy
The Farm to Fork Strategy is central to the European Green Deal aiming to make food systems fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly.
It urges a redesign of food systems – which today account for nearly 1/3 of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; consume large amounts of natural resources; result in biodiversity loss and negative health impacts (due to both under- and over-nutrition); and do not allow fair economic returns and livelihoods, in particular for primary producers.
The commission said that putting food systems on a sustainable path also brings new opportunities for operators in the food value chain.
New technologies and scientific discoveries, combined with increasing public awareness and demand for sustainable food, will benefit all stakeholders, it said.
The Farm to Fork Strategy aims to accelerate the transition to a sustainable food system that should:
- Have a neutral or positive environmental impact;
- Help to mitigate climate change and adapt to its impacts;
- Reverse the loss of biodiversity;
- Ensure food security, nutrition and public health, making sure that everyone has access to sufficient, safe, nutritious, sustainable food;
- Preserve affordability of food while generating fairer economic returns, fostering competitiveness of the EU supply sector and promoting fair trade.