The Commission has published Building Food 2040: stakeholder input for the new EU Strategic Research & Innovation Agenda for Food Systems, a new report analysing the results of an EU-wide stakeholder consultation on the future of food-systems research and innovation.
The report draws on 631 survey responses and 63 written submissions, including position papers, policy briefs, roadmaps and vision statements. It brings together input from a wide range of food-system actors, including research and academia, farming organisations, industry, public authorities, NGOs, civil society organisations and citizens.
The findings confirm that stakeholders value the systems-thinking approach introduced by Food 2030, which helped support a more integrated understanding of food-systems research and innovation. At the same time, stakeholders highlighted the opportunity for Food 2040 to build on this foundation by strengthening links between R&I priorities, implementation pathways, measurable impacts and the uptake of results in policy, practice and the market.
Stakeholders identified several priorities for the future agenda, including reducing environmental and climate impacts across the food system, supporting healthier dietary habits, increasing resilience and preparedness, strengthening strategic autonomy, advancing circularity and resource efficiency, supporting protein diversification, reinforcing short supply chains and improving the scale-up of food-system innovation.
The report contributes to the evidence base for Food 2040, the new EU Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda for Food Systems. Food 2040 will build on Food 2030 and support the development of competitive, sustainable and resilient food-system solutions that benefit citizens, the environment and climate.
Background
Food 2030 is the European Commission’s research and innovation policy framework supporting the transition towards sustainable, healthy and inclusive food systems that respect planetary boundaries. It promotes a systemic and multi-actor approach to research and innovation, aiming to deliver co-benefits for people’s health, climate, the planet and communities.
The Food 2040 stakeholder consultation was carried out to gather evidence and stakeholder perspectives for the next phase of EU food-systems R&I policy.
More information
Building Food 2040: stakeholder input for the new EU Strategic Research & Innovation Agenda for Food Systems
Food 2030 – Pathways for action 2.0
