A sustainable food system must ensure sufficient and varied supply of safe, nutritious, affordable and sustainable food to people at all times, not least in times of crisis. Climate change and biodiversity loss constitute imminent and lasting threats to food security and livelihoods. The Commission will continue closely monitoring food security, as well as competitiveness of farmers and food operators. Increasing the sustainability of food producers will ultimately increase their resilience.

The Commission will step up its coordination of a common European response to crises affecting food systems in order to ensure food security and safety, reinforce public health and mitigate their socio-economic impact in the EU. Drawing on the lessons learned, the Commission will assess the resilience of the food system and develop a contingency plan for ensuring food supply and food security to be put into place in times of crisis.  The agricultural crisis reserve will be revamped so its full potential can be used upfront in the case of a crisis in agricultural markets.  

In addition to risk assessment and management measures to be activated during a crisis, the plan will set up a food crisis response mechanism coordinated by the Commission and involving Member States. It will be comprised of various sectors (agriculture, fisheries, food safety, workforce, health and transport issues) depending on the nature of the crisis.

Food processors and retailers shape food choices. Their scale and concentration give them considerable power to put food production and consumption on a sustainable path. Through both regulatory and non-regulatory initiatives, the Strategy will strive to steer the food industry towards practices that make the healthy, sustainable choice the easy one for consumers. Voluntary commitments will be encouraged through an EU Code of Conduct for responsible business and marketing practices.

The Commission will seek to scale-up action across the EU, mobilizing Member States, food businesses and civil society notably through the work of the EU Platform on Food Losses and Food Waste and encouraging implementation of its recommendations for action by all players. Committed to reaching the UN Sustainable Development Goal target to halve per capita food waste at retail and consumer levels by 2030, the Commission will propose, by 2023, legally binding targets to reduce food waste across the EU. These will be defined against a baseline set following the first EU-wide monitoring of food waste levels, measured according to a common EU methodology. The Commission will consider further opportunities to integrate food loss and waste prevention as part of all relevant EU policies and take action to strengthen the evidence base for food waste prevention interventions.

The EU is committed to lead by example on the transition to sustainable food systems, not only within its borders, but also outside. Through international cooperation, bilaterally and multilaterally, the EU will promote more sustainable farming and fisheries practices, reduce deforestation, enhance biodiversity, and improve food security and nutrition outcomes. The Commission will incorporate these Farm-to-Fork priorities in the programming guidance for cooperation with third countries in the period 2021-2027. The EU's bilateral trade agreements also offer a means to foster EU environmental standards in third countries, in addition to food safety standards. Many bilateral agreements already include chapters on trade and sustainable development and on trade and the environment. Some contain provisions in areas such as animal welfare at slaughter or use of antimicrobials. The Commission will develop Green Alliances on sustainable food systems to respond to distinct challenges in different parts of the world and will pursue an ambitious outcome of the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit. Finally, the Commission will propose to establish a legislative framework for sustainable food systems, combined with labelling or other incentives, could contribute to raising sustainability standards so as to become the norm for all products placed on the EU market.

Farmers, fishers and aquaculture producers play a crucial role in the implementation of the Green Deal. This Strategy aims to reward those farmers, fishers and other operators in the food chain who have already undergone the transition to sustainable practices, enable the transition for the others, and create additional opportunities for their businesses. Citizens' expectations are evolving and driving significant change in the food market. European food is already a global standard for safe, plentiful, nutritious and high quality food. This transition will allow them to also make sustainability their trademark and to guarantee the future of the EU food chain. The transition to sustainability presents a ‘first mover' opportunity for all actors in the food chain. An example of a new green business model is carbon sequestration by farmers and foresters. Farming practices that remove CO2 from the atmosphere contribute to the climate neutrality objective and should be rewarded, either via the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) or other public or private initiatives (carbon market).

The CAP will continue to be a key tool in supporting farmers in the transition towards a sustainable food system. The 2018 CAP reform proposal already focuses on sustainability and tightly links CAP support to environment, climate and food safety legislation.

It includes key tools to achieve the Green Deal's objectives. The new ‘eco-schemes' will offer a major stream of funding to boost sustainable practices, such as precision agriculture, agro-ecology (including organic farming), the creation of landscape features, carbon farming and agro-forestry. Member States and the Commission will have to ensure that eco-schemes are appropriately resourced and implemented in the Strategic Plans. The Commission will support the introduction of a minimum ring-fencing budget for eco-schemes. In addition, the Commission will work with the co-legislators to ensure that the Green Deal ambition is fully reflected in the new CAP legislation.

The Commission will also make recommendations to each Member State on the nine specific objectives of the CAP, before they formally submit the draft Strategic Plans. The Commission will pay particular attention to addressing the Green Deal targets, and those stemming from this Strategy and the Biodiversity Strategy for 2030. It will ask Member States to set explicit national values for the targets in these Strategies, taking into account their specific situation and the above mentioned recommendations.