EGM on SDG 2: Juliette Tronchon Statement

Juliette Tronchon

Head of UN Affairs, ProVeg International 

Session 4: SDG 2 Target 2.4 - Ensure Sustainable Food Production Systems

I gathered a few examples from ProVeg International and other civil society partners, to highlight how shifting towards more plant-rich diets can actually support the development of climate-friendly agricultural practices and help us move towards a sustainable and resilient production system, and achieve 2.4. 

ProVeg works with partners from the private sector, academia and policymakers on the Smart Protein project, which is EU funded. It encourages farmers to grow protein-rich crops for human consumption. The project’s latest work is a series of leaflets that summarises information about the best climatic conditions and best agricultural practices for each of the crops included in the project (lentils, fava beans, quino and chickpeas) to support and inspire food producers. The Smart Protein Project is a good example of a farm to fork initiative aimed at bridging the gap between production and consumption. In short, this project illustrates the EU’s willingness to invest in regenerative organic agriculture and circular economy to produce tasty, nutritious and EU produced plant-based foods. All in all, it’s a great example of academia, NGOs, research centres and corporations coming together to develop sustainable foods with a farm to fork approach. 

Another aspect that we find particularly important is the support of farmers’ transition. There is this Transfarmation project led by some other colleagues in the US. It creates models of alternative economic opportunities, building solidarity with other movements and shifting societal narratives to change culture. They work with farmers, local technical consultants, and research universities to design new, replicable agricultural models that show how factory farms can transition to successful, profitable, sustainable, and plant-focused farming.

Another great European-located project is the Solawi Network where consumers are directly involved in the production process. They actively decide and plan what should be produced, using which methods and under which conditions. It enables risk sharing, relieves farmers of price pressure and secures their income. The project is cost-effective and also shows that reconnecting consumers with their food is more than important if we want to achieve SDG 2.

But all this wouldn’t be possible without educating younger generations to healthy and sustainable food as consumption and production are interlinked. In their White Paper, the Global School Meals Coalition mentioned ProVeg UK’s office and their School Plates programme. We’ve been supporting schools to reduce their amount of resource-intensive animal products and increase whole food plant-based lunch options. If we continue to consume the way we are, both consumption and production are gonna be responsible for an incredibly high amount of emissions. Raising the demand for plant-based, climate-resilient options, will have a significant impact on the way we produce food. Healthy food public procurement in general is very important - it was highlighted during the Forum on Sustainable Development in Geneva a couple of weeks ago during the SDG 2 Roundtable. Programmes such as School Plates are very important to educate younger generations on where their food is coming from and reconnecting them with their consumption, and how it impacts production too. The IPCC notes “supply-side adaptation measures alone will not be sufficient to sustainably achieve food security under climate change.” By increasing demand for sustainable, plant-rich and resilient food and knowledge about climate consequences of our consumption, we will promote sustainable and resilient food production to move away from harmful agricultural practices such as resource-intensive animal farming. 

In conclusion, decision makers need to scale up financing/funding, to scale up those projects that promote sustainable protein and food sources production. We need to bring those projects to other regions and countries. We have solutions, we need the means to implement them and to bring them to those that don’t have the resources.


Reflection post-meeting
When we discuss SDG 2, food security, and access to nutritious and affordable food are the main topics. Talking about the need for dietary shift, incorporating more plant-based products is not that much in question yet. One thing that stood out among the participants: We talk(ed) a lot about production and consumption. But what's in between? What are we missing? What about transport, labelling, selling, and more? All these steps bring us, in the first place, to consume a product. Dietary shift is a necessary step to achieve SDG 2, but the transition towards more plant-based diets can only happen if we promote this in all phases of a product life cycle:

• Less harmful agricultural practices, especially in intensive animal agriculture: This means more subsidies and programmes to support farmers in transitioning towards resilient and sustainable farming practices (see the Transfarmation Project mentioned in my intervention and read ProVeg's report on farmers)
• Ceasing advertising for resource-intensive products, such as meat, in countries that are overconsuming (as Harleem, a Dutch city, does, starting in 2024)
• Improved product labelling enabling consumers to understand the impact of their food. This also entails better plant-based labelling as it can influence their choices (Read ProVeg's report)
• Promoting healthy, nutritious plant-based diets with healthy public food procurement. See the successes of our School Plates Programme mentioned in the recent white paper from the School Meals Coalition and the Research Consortium on Child Health & Nutrition. School Plates is a case study you can find on page 98.