The European Green Deal Improves the Sustainability of Food Systems but Has Uneven Economic Impacts on Consumers and Farmers
October 7, 2023 | Communications Earth & Environment |
Introduction: EU established the policy program called The European Green Deal in 2019, aiming to create a fair, healthy, and environmentally friendly food system. To assess the impacts of this initiative, a partial equilibrium economic model was developed by France's National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE). The model focuses on three main strategies: reducing chemical inputs in agriculture, minimizing post-harvest losses, and promoting healthier diets with fewer animal-based products.
Key findings: The study emphasizes that achieving significant improvements in climate, biodiversity, and nutrition necessitates the simultaneous implementation of all three measures. This integrated approach could result in a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from food consumption and a 40–50% decrease in biodiversity damage. Consumers benefit economically through lower food expenses, but livestock producers experience declines in quantity and price. Positive impacts on revenues for food/feed field crop producers depend on the balance between increased food consumption and reduced feed consumption.
Fig. | Structure of the partial equilibrium economic model.
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October 7, 2023 |Â Â Communications Earth & Environment |Â Â Introduction: EU established the policy program called The European Green Deal in 2019, aiming to create a fair, healthy, and environmentally f
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