PRESS RELEASE
THE 4TH EDITION OF THE GLOBAL FOOD FORUM ABOUT TO KICK OFF
« Time to declare an economic, social and environmental emergency for EU agriculture »
Brussels, 2 December 2019 – The fourth edition of the Global Food Forum (GFF2019), organised by Farm Europe takes place on this 2nd & 3rd December at the heart of the European Union in the European Parliament in Brussels. Dacian Ciolos, President of Renew Europe and former Prime Minister and Commissioner for Agriculture, will open the event with Paolo De Castro, MEP and former Minister of Agriculture of Italy and Christiane Lambert, President of FNSEA.
The Global Food Forum has represented in the last years the opportunity to initiate and stimulate a proactive dialogue between European and national decision makers, representatives of our society, agricultural organizations, industry experts and researchers. The main purpose of this initiative has been and still is to be able to channel this renewed ambition for European agri-food systems into coherent and effective policies and to actively contribute to the creation of a new ambition for EU food systems.
By managing around 70% of the European surface and providing quality food to over 500 million citizens, the CAP is the main economic lever for achieving sustainability for agricultural models and all rural areas of the EU. Furthermore, the CAP and European farmers will be essential if the aim is truly to make the European New Green Deal and the “Farm to Fork” sustainable food strategy, announced by the new President of the European Commission, a success.
It is precisely in this context that Farm Europe is organizing the fourth edition of the Global Food Forum focusing attention on the theme: “EU agri-food sectors as front runners of EU future”.
Our rural areas and our agriculture are facing an emergency situation that requires a triple mobilization without delay. Today, it is necessary to declare a triple emergency for the European Union, for its agriculture and its rural areas: a social, an environmental and an economic emergency.
Within these two days and during two plenary sessions and 7 workshops – covering innovation, food chain, energy, resilience, carbon neutrality, nutrition and sectorial challenges – the event will focus on the best levers to promote the economic and environmental performance of EU agri-food systems while designing the best policy tools to achieve a common ambition at EU level, in particular via the future Common Agricultural Policy and the Green New Deal’s proposed Farm to Fork Strategy. The GFF2019 is gathering more than 300 participants from all across Europe.
The wrap-up closing session will discuss synergies between the CAP and EU sustainable food strategy with the involvement of Agriculture and Rural Development Committee Chair Norbert Lins, Christophe Hansen, Paolo De Castro and Ettore Prandini, President of Coldiretti.
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The 2019 Global Food Forum is notably under the patronage and chair of MEPs Dacian Ciolos, Paolo De Castro, Anne Sander, Peter Jahr, Simona Bonafè, Marie-Pierre Vedrenne, Jérémy Decerle, Martin Hlavacek and Irène Tolleret.
More details on the event and press contact : https://www.farm-europe.eu/evenement/global-food- forum-2019/ or at info@farm-europe.eu Twitter: @FarmEurope #GlobalFoodForum2019