Consumer groups put food sustainability at the centre of Milan Expo

The demand for food continues to increase, with the earth’s population exceeding 9 billion by 2050. With a total of 870 million undernourished people between 2010 and 2012 and the scandalous waste of 1.3 billion tons of food every year, there is an obvious need for action to make our diets healthier and more sustainable.

Örjan Brinkman, President of The European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), commented:

“We want all consumers to have access to sustainable food. That means food that has been produced taking environmental, health, social, economic and animal rights parameters into account. The European Consumer Organisation is fighting to make sustainable food choices the easiest choices for consumers.’’

Luisa Crisigiovanni, Secretary General of Altroconsumo, said:

“The lack of consensus on what sustainable food means impedes us from communicating, engaging and moving forward. To this end, Altroconsumo organised a contest to identify best practices in communications that help to raise consumer awareness and encourage food producers to 'walk the talk'. Today’s challenge is to translate words into facts and to make a difference, and thus Altroconsumo’s motto is #direfarecambiare (#saydochange). This is essential not only for consumers in 2015 but even more importantly to guarantee that people in 2050 can make #foodchoices and live on a healthy planet.”

Monique Goyens, Director General of The European Consumer Organisation, added:

“We live in an environment that constantly influences and shapes our food choices. And most of the time we are pushed to make unhealthy food choices. Availability, affordability and marketing are key tools to reverse this trend, but they are currently used to promote products high in sugar, saturated fat and salt. What we need is more responsible food marketing, especially towards children.”

¹ Full details of the conference programme are available here.

² Follow the livestream via this link.