Upgrading the notion of “sustainable foods” in the European Union: concept and challenges

Abstract

The article emphasizes that Ukraine, as an active exporter of agri-food products and agricultural raw materials to the European market, needs to take into account the new EU approach to categorization of products based on their sustainability indicators. The European Commission will formulate a legislative proposal on the framework of a sustainable food system, and general requirements for sustainable foods, and their certification and labeling according to sustainability indicators by the end of 2023. Based on the presently available EU documents (first of all, the Farm to Fork Strategy) the author generalizes the main principles and requirements for sustainable foods that will become standard for all foods placed on the EU market in accordance with public interests. It is substantiated that the quite new for Ukraine concept of "sustainable agri-food product" has a broader content than the concept of "eco-friendly product" or "organic product", as environmental friendliness is just one of the characteristics of sustainability, along with the climatic and social ones. The main differences between sustainable and eco-friendly/organic products are systematized. A prominent place in the article is given to the climate criterion of sustainability, in particular, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the production and supply of agricultural food (carbon footprint), which meets the target of decarbonization and achieving climate neutrality in Europe. In the context of creating a harmonized EU methodology for food sustainability, the author considers the content and components of the ecological footprint (land area used for production and utilization, water resources, carbon dioxide emissions, and food miles). The article provides global experience of voluntary certification of food sustainability, and national programs for certification of food sustainability, in particular soybeans in the USA and Canada, which testifies to the growing differentiation of the food market and a tendency towards official certification and labeling of sustainable foods. The author highlights the challenges for Ukrainian exports to the EU under the increasing requirements for the sustainability of agri-food products. In particular, high levels of greenhouse gas emissions from crops (corn and oilseeds) may lead to restrictions on their exports as raw materials for biofuel production. Tracking of chemical pesticide and antimicrobial residues in exported products is expected to be tightened, as the use of these hazardous substances in the EU should be reduced by 50% by 2030. The revealed asymmetry of the spread of the concept of "sustainable foods" between foreign (quite common) and domestic (almost absent) scientific and journalistic sources may indicate that domestic farmers might not be prepared for a timely reorientation to production and export to the EU of sustainable agri-food products. It is obvious that the better off countries will be those who manage to modernize their national agri-food systems in advance in the context of ensuring product sustainability.