It’s time to put sustainability and nutrition on the table
CSM has sustainability embedded across all new product developments, reformulations, and innovations. Image: CSM Ingredients
At a recent EIT Food Region West Partner Event in Edinburgh, the keynote of the evening was Garlich von Essen, who worked for a long time at the European Commission and European Parliament in different roles, before becoming secretary general and CEO of Euroseeds in Brussels.
Garlich von Essen spoke passionately about the past and the future of the Green Deal and pointed out the new situation after the votes in the European Union when he said: “We must now work harder if we want to inform the public about sustainability and nutrition.”
He outlined reasons for his statement – among them the political conditions in Europe, the ongoing war, and cost pressures.
But Garlich von Essen’s words ring true when he added that “understandable language” and “easily comprehensible examples” are required for the public to understand what sustainable nutrition means before they are willing to engage with it. A lack of understanding about what it actually means is preventing many from doing so.
Many people are also uncertain about what changes they should make.
Garlich, himself a farmer who has owned farmland with his family in the north of Germany for generations, had a lot of sympathy for the farmers’ protests, as they also addressed the true value of food more clearly. “Consumers only see the small price and can’t grasp the entire food system at the same time”.
Sustainability translates to using the car less or recycling more when it comes to people thinking about how to live more sustainably, but it seems that not everyone is aware of the difference that changing their diet can make to living sustainably.
Garlich von Essen’s words are not surprising. A lot has been said about encouraging people to eat better, but many still don’t know enough about why this is important, so to talk about sustainability and nutrition is getting too far ahead for many.
We need to promote greater awareness and knowledge of how changes to sustainability and nutrition go some way to helping the planet, while also offering some suggested changes that are likely to be acceptable and acted upon.
Focussing on likely impact and personal benefit and increasing public availability and accessibility to sustainable diets will be of value, but we must consider consumers’ preferences.
- Rodney Jack, editor, Food & Drink Technology.
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