Strengthening the sustainability of European food chains through quality and procurement policies
Konstadinos Mattas, Efthimia Tsakiridou, Christos Karelakis, Dimitra Lazaridou, Matthew Gorton, Jelena Filipović, Carmen Hubbard, Monia Saïdi, Dragan Stojković, Barbara Tocco, Angela Tregear, Mario Veneziani
Abstract
The nexus of agri-food and sustainability in economic development has recently attracted the interest of policymakers, as global challenges like climate change and food security are revisited and reassessed. The critical role of food production in economic development has been emphasized through targeted agricultural quality policies. Many developed countries worldwide, including EU member states, have introduced food quality policies that could support sustainability. This paper combines knowledge obtained by several groups in a broad EU study and the reflections on policy-related results by EU-stakeholders, streamlined by a Delphi analysis. Current work presents research-based policy recommendations and statements on various quality schemes, introductory inferred from expert opinions throughout Europe, gauged through a modified policy Delphi framework. A roadmap of policy and practical proposals have been identified for all key stakeholders involved in these initiatives, implying the need to reshape the supply chain dynamics to continuously improve producers, processors, retailers, and consumers within the EU and definitively worldwide. Furthermore, implementing a holistic approach considering environmental and socio-economic features can improve the effectiveness of EU food quality policies.