RENASCENCE · The Role of European National Health Services in the enhancement of sustainable food systems

The Role of European National Health Services in the enhancement of sustainable food systems

Current food systems are unsustainable. The prevailing food production and consumption patterns are main causes of environmental degradation. In the EU, 26% of energy consumption comes from the Food Chain, leading to intolerable GHG emissions. Soil erosion affects already 25% of EU´s agricultural land. There has been a reduction in crop biodiversity and pesticide residues are found in 83% of EU soils. Along with that, we are causing the extinction of pollinators and water resources are vulnerable. Global food demand is projected to expand by 60 % towards 2050, driven by negative changes in consumption patterns (including increased meat and dairy product consumption, produced unsustainably) and population growth. In parallel, undernutrition and obesity are present, with a plethora of related non-communicable diseases, already placing a massive burden on healthcare systems. All of the above plus the recent launch of a number of key reports such as the Green Deal, as well as other important documents as the EAT-Lancet Commission or the IPES-Food report “Towards a common food policy for the EU”, establish a momentum for transforming the food systems. RENASCENCE is a project that aims to address this issue by implementing Sustainable Food Systems within the European healthcare system. The healthcare system is a powerful tool in our societies, and it must play leadership role as main driver for societal changes towards Sustainable Food System Development. EU hospital´s account for more 2.5 million beds, hence, they have a tremendous power on Public Food Procurement patterns. Furthermore, health professionals are widely recognized experts that bring great credibility and influence, with a huge educative role in dietary patterns as well as a potential key-role to play in achieving the public policy changes that will create sustainable food systems. However, EU health care systems are far from achieving their potential towards sustainable means. Having sustainable food systems within the healthcare would influence economically, by re-localizing the economy, bringing profit to SME and small farmers and rural areas. Environmentally, it would influence the preservation of land along with the attenuation in those negative effects that we explained earlier. Socially, there would be higher equity. The overarching aim of RENASCENCE is to develop a more effective strategy for food system sustainability within European health services. The specific objective is to identify and analyse the processes related with the environmental, socio-economic and cultural dimensions of sustainability of the food systems within the European health services´ commercialisation channels (procurement) and educative channels (health promotion), and from this knowledge, propose a System of Indicators that will permit development of strategies for the food systems in place.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union