Building Trust for Protein Diversification: A Path Towards Europe's Food Future скачать в хорошем качестве

Building Trust for Protein Diversification: A Path Towards Europe's Food Future

The discussion surrounding protein—from its production to its consumption—has generated significant interest among various stakeholders and policymakers in European food policy. On one side, there are concerns about the environmental footprint and health implications of current protein systems. On the other, there are legitimate questions about how evolving food traditions and new market dynamics will shape the future of rural livelihoods, and what this means for different types of farmers, from livestock producers, feed producers, to those already focused on growing crops for human consumption. This fragmentation of perspectives has led to a stalemate, hindering the progress Europe needs to build a resilient, sustainable, and healthy food system. Protein diversification offers a way forward. Rather than framing plant, animal, and novel proteins as competing alternatives, this approach seeks to rebalance protein sources—positioning them as complementary pillars of Europe's food future. A diversified protein landscape can deliver benefits for farmers through new income streams and reduced input costs, for consumers through healthier and more sustainable food choices, and for the environment through regenerative practices and reduced emissions. Yet for protein diversification to succeed, trust must be built across the entire value chain. Farmers and producers need clear signals that diversifying their production will be profitable and supported by reliably stable demand in a developing market. Consumers need assurance that diversified protein products are safe, nutritious, environmentally sound, and can be part of a healthy, but still tasty and affordable diet. Policymakers, producers, retailers, and civil society all have roles to play in creating the conditions for this trust to flourish. This European Food Forum event built on growing policy momentum around protein diversification in Europe. The European Parliament’s 2023 Protein Strategy resolution called for comprehensive measures to strengthen EU protein production across all sources. The Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture recommended developing an EU Action Plan for Plant-Based Foods by 2026, and the Danish EU Presidency (July–December 2025) has prioritised protein diversification and the formulation of an EU protein strategy, underscoring the strategic importance of this agenda for Europe’s food future. By bringing together key actors from across the food value chain farmers, industry, retailers, consumer organisations, start-ups, and NGOs, this EFF event examined achievements to date, highlight the remaining challenges, and identify further actions needed to enable a protein future that benefits all.