Europeans’ Attitudes Towards Food Security, Food Quality and the Countryside

Abstract

The aim of the survey is to understand EU citizens’ experiences and perceptions of food security and self-sufficiency. The survey also looks at consumer priorities when buying food, awareness of quality labels and perceptions of the link between agriculture and the preservation of nature and countryside. Food security is one of the most compelling global challenges. The rapid growth of the world’s population puts great pressure on critical resources such as water, energy and food. Food security will become an ever greater priority for the EU and the world as the global demand for food increases and the challenges of sustainable production and equitable distribution become increasingly acute. The system of food production and distribution must meet the challenge of ensuring food security while at the same time dealing with the current impact of climate change on agriculture and adapting agriculture to lessen its future environmental impact. Half the EU’s land is farmed, so initiatives to decrease emissions, maintain biodiversity, preserve natural resources and conserve areas of ecological and scenic value are of significant and increasing importance. In these demanding circumstances, the EU regards the promotion and assurance of food quality as an important instrument for EU farmers to increase their competitiveness and profitability. EU law already enforces strict requirements to guarantee the standard of European products. However, the Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development believes that more should be done to communicate the qualities of these products to consumers. It is therefore committed to the improvement and extension of quality assurance schemes to identify and protect certain foodstuffs produced in accordance with particularly demanding criteria of quality or production method.