External Costs of Animal Sourced Food in the EU

Commissioned by Eurogroup for Animal, this study is on the externalities attributed to current value chains of EU production and consumption of animal sourced food – and opportunities for change.

“combining better production with less consumption of animal sourced food supports the EU’s ambitions to improve animal welfare, optimise land use and address the threats to biodiversity which currently harm ecosystem services. Greater focus on animal welfare can support this better production and less consumption of animal sourced food to ensure long-term food security and a fair, healthy, and more sustainable EU food system. Therefore, based on the findings of this report, it is recommended that:

• Animal welfare be considered in tandem with environmental and human health provisions, as they are intrinsically connected;
• Resources are invested in understanding the footprint of production systems (in this case organic and conventional, but also agroecological or other) to enable accurate comparisons;
• A relative increase in organic production is combined with a dietary transition to more plant-based food.”