Green food strategy affects public health

People need to eat more environmentally friendly. Current food production would be too harmful for the environment. The reports on the reform of Dutch agriculture now reach far beyond the gutter.

A quarter of agriculture should become organic. That target must be achieved by 2030. This wish comes from the Farm to Fork strategy of European Commissioner Frans Timmermans. This makes the healthy food package more expensive for the consumer. Our own Ministry of Agriculture launched a National Protein Strategy, people should eat more sustainable proteins. More vegetable, less animal. The campaigns for more sustainable food, subsidized by the government, are succeeding each other in rapid succession. Some organizations advocate the introduction of a meat tax. As a result, meat becomes more expensive, which means that consumers are more likely to abandon it.

In addition, billions of euros are available in the nitrogen and climate funds for the extensification of agriculture. Healthy products from extensive agriculture usually have a higher price tag.

Transition to industrial food
The same point is made time and again in the reports on agricultural reform: it has to be done because of the environment and nature. The consequences for public health are not discussed. What does it mean for public health if agricultural and horticultural products become more expensive? I just went to have a look in 'my' supermarket. Currently, a healthy, simple meal for four with seasonal vegetables, meat and dairy costs about $10.

For the same money, the consumer buys four frozen pizzas with a bottle of cola (industrial food). A healthy meal is therefore no more expensive than the unhealthier industrial food. This will change if a meal of healthy agricultural and horticultural products becomes (much) more expensive. There is a good chance that people will then more often choose the cheapest alternative: industrial food. The result: eating more than necessary (you continue to eat industrial food), a higher risk of obesity, a higher risk of diabetes and all kinds of cardiovascular diseases. This in turn leads to a greater burden on healthcare, a higher use of medicines, and more residues of medicines that end up in the environment via the toilet. (The sewage treatment plant does not sufficiently remove many medicine residues). The solution of one environmental problem is the cause of another environmental problem.

The price of public health
In fact, the government should look much broader in its plans for agricultural reform than just nature and the environment. Public health should not be missing in this. Public health demands that healthy agricultural and horticultural products are never more expensive than the unhealthier industrial alternative. Or is public health not an issue for our government?

Ghost Rotgers

Investigative journalist in the agricultural sector

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