Food industry is one of the largest users of water, yet the water policy (Water Resilience Strategy) published by the European Commission in early June fails to consider the needs of the sector. The new EU guidelines ignore how essential clean and affordable water is for the production of food and beverages.
Water has become a key topic for policymakers due to increasing frequency of extreme weather events driven by climate change. Parts of Europe are suffering from severe drought, while others face concerns about flooding and heavy rainfall.
Clean water – foundation of food security
The strategy aims to respond to demands from various stakeholders for sustainable management of EU’s water resources. However, food chain receives little attention, as focus lies mainly on improving water use in primary production and introducing water-related incentives under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).
Finnish food industry is concerned that, despite references to food security, vital importance of access to clean water for food and drink processing industry is largely overlooked in practice.
Maintaining high level of hygiene in Finnish food production and ensuring food supply security requires guaranteed access to high-quality and affordable water throughout entire food production chain.
Finnish Food and Drink Industries Federation (ETL) welcomes the Commission’s decision to provide member states with non-binding principles for improving water efficiency instead of introducing new binding legislation. This approach allows for consideration of different national circumstances.
In Finland, food industry has long promoted water efficiency and sustainable water use. For example, water abstraction is significantly lower than the natural rate of water renewal. From a water responsibility perspective, Finnish food products compare very favorably to many imported products.
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