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Review article2021Peer reviewedOpen access

Europe’s Farm to Fork Strategy and Its Commitment to Biotechnology and Organic Farming: Conflicting or Complementary Goals?

Purnhagen, Kai P.; Clemens, Stephan; Eriksson, Dennis; Fresco, Louise O.; Tosun, Jale; Qaim, Matin; Visser, Richard G. F.; Weber, Andreas P. M.; Wesseler, Justus H. H.; Zilberman, David

Abstract

The European Commission's Farm to Fork (F2F) strategy, under the European Green Deal, acknowledges that innovative techniques, including biotechnology, may play a role in increasing sustainability. At the same time, organic farming will be promoted, and at least 25% of the EU's agricultural land shall be under organic farming by 2030. How can both biotechnology and organic farming be developed and promoted simultaneously to contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? We illustrate that achieving the SDGs benefits from the inclusion of recent innovations in biotechnology in organic farming. This requires a change in the law. Otherwise, the planned increase of organic production in the F2F strategy may result in less sustainable, not more sustainable, food systems.

Published in

Trends in Plant Science
2021, Volume: 26, number: 6, pages: 600-606 Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE LONDON

    Sustainable Development Goals

    SDG2 Zero hunger

    UKÄ Subject classification

    Agricultural Science

    Publication identifier

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2021.03.012

    Permanent link to this page (URI)

    https://res.slu.se/id/publ/112095