Europe’s position regarding food security has been relatively stable throughout the past decades, as the continent has kept exporting agrifoods, Bloomberg reports.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic, which was followed by the Russia-Ukraine war, both of which have caused major disturbances across the globe – and Europe was no exception.
Recent developments in the Red Sea have caused disruptions in key supply chains in the Suez Canal, resulting in a surge in food prices. Additionally climate change and extreme weather is creating even more challenging conditions for farmers to grow food like they used to.
Food security experts, government representatives from EU, and industry analysts convened in Brussels in February, as Bloomberg reports, to discuss how to cope with a potential “full-blown food crisis.”
“Expect a level of chaos,” warned Piotr Magnuszewski, a systems modeler and game designer who has worked with the United Nations. “You may be confused at times and not have enough information. There will be time travel.”
EU has been experiencing chaos for the past couple of months after the European Commission and Parliament decided to make some changes to the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy.
The move caused dissatisfaction among farmers who took to the streets to protest, Brussels Times reported.
“This is how we hit the groups that leave us out in the cold. A supermarket chain that drives for the lowest prices: that cuts into our skin,” said Tijs Boelens, spokesperson for the Flemish Farmers’ Forum.
