The European Technology Platform 'Food for Life'

The Lisbon Strategy aims at making Europe the most competitive, dynamic, knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010. With that target in view, the European Commission/DG Research is supporting the concept of European Technology Platforms (ETPs) to promote innovation in Europe. There are now 25 existing ETPs at various stages of development. The size, nature and regional importance of the food and drink industry, which covers a market of 450 million consumers, now also led to the creation of a European Technology Platform 'Food for Life'.

The umbrella for this project is the CIAA, a Brussels-based organisation representing the food and drink industry, which employs over 4 million people (the complete agricultural section operates with more than 11 million people: 2,3% of the population of the enlarged EU).

After a series of consultations and meetings, the official launch of the ETP 'Food for Life' took place on 5 July 2005 in Brussels, attended by representatives of all 25 EU member countries, scientists, industry and the media.

Within the frame of the ETP 'Food for Life', stakeholders of the food and drink sector will be developing a common strategy with the aim of fostering competitiveness and delivering tangible benefits to the European consumers. The scope of future activities of the platform has been described in a 'Vision document', which will eventually lead to a 'Strategic Research Agenda and Implementation plan' (expected at the beginning of 2006). This will set the path till 2020.

The task of the ETP is a highly complex one. The interests of the food industry will have to be balanced against the demand of the consumers who have the power to make or break a strategy, like the lasting boycott of GMO products right across Europe has shown very clearly.

One of the most important ETP-issues is health. Obesity and its associated health problems like type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, stroke, arthritis and certain cancers (research suggests that 30-40% of cases of cancer is causally-related to nutritional factors) are putting growing strain on health services right across Europe.

Also the fact that the life expectancy of Europeans is increasing represents a challenge to be tackled: the number of people aged over 80 years is estimated to increase by about 30% over the next 50 years. The aim is to work towards a situation in which people survive to an advance age with their vigour and independence maintained, and with morbidity and disability compressed into a relatively short period before death.

This initiative is very promising and will certainly lead to improvements in the production and distribution of food and will also bring benefits for Mr. and Mrs. Europe. However, will this work have any positive impact on vegetarianism? One would hope so because a vegetarian lifestyle has a most important and positive influence on food-related diseases, obesity and the problems of an ageing population.

Unfortunately it takes just one quick look at the companies involved to get an answer: They are the heavyweights in the food and agriculture industry, including the European Meat Network and SEAFOODplus. It is not realistic to expect that these powerful and influential managers, for whom animals are not sentient beings but just living substances and raw materials, will invest time in any study pointing to the dangers of meat.

Furthermore the ETP-presence of companies working on genetically modified foods is striking. In this context the comments of CIAA's president, Mr. Jean Martin, are as honest as they are enlightening: 'There is nothing wrong with GMO foods. Consumers reject the new foods for all the wrong reasons. A tragedy. Unfortunately the European biotech science starts to lag behind and the EU-US gap is growing; scientists leave Europe. It is highly desirable to change consumers' perceptions. In the end science will prevail.'

Is a Brave New World just around the corner?

Herma Caelen/7 July 2005

CIAA: 'Food for Life'
<http://212.123.1.64/etpciaaadmin/documents/BAT%20Brochure%20ETP.pdf>

CIAA: '.UK Presidency of the EU'