The European Commission has been requested to ring-fence funding for the plant-based food sector. This comes as a coalition of 63 organisations led by European Alliance for Plant-based Foods says that the €95.5 billion Horizon Europe research programme could be used to improve the taste, sustainability, affordability and health benefits of plant-based foods. The group claims that supporting the sector would assist the EU to meet its target of climate neutrality by 2050.
The coalition group has sent a letter to the commission asking it to create the follwoing under the Horizon Europe Work Programme for 2023-2024:
- Funding to improve the taste and recipe of products to encourage more people to become flexitarian
- Funding for projects to reduce the cost of plant-based products so they can better compete with animal-based foods
- Funding for research on crops that are specifically meant to be used in plant-based foods rather than in animal feed
- Funding to support processes that allow for a large-scale transition to sustainable plant-based food systems.
Secretary general for the European Alliance for Plant-based Foods, Siska Pottie says “we have seen a huge demand for plant-based foods among European consumers as they embrace healthier and more environmentally friendly lifestyles.”
In supporting the Horizon Europe project, Pottie claims that the project is a vitally important mechanism to accelerate the shift towards more plant-based diets and deliver on the EU’s Farm to Fork Strategy and its Beating Cancer Plan, both of which encourage the shift to plant-based diets.