Fields of Europe

Fields of Europe –
Development of a European food and feed standard

The project to develop a European food and feed standard was part of Donau Soja’s Strategic Partnership Programme with the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) from 2019-2021. During the project phase Donau Soja held the Fields of Europe project secretariat. In the course of the project the Fields of Europe standard was created in a transparent and public process with the involvement of key stakeholders. Both food and feed industries will be able to use this standard to source non-GMO and sustainable inputs of European origin. As a result, the Fields of Europe standard will help build sustainable, inclusive, and efficient value chains for European non-GMO food and feed products.

Background

In 2019, a coalition of organisations and companies from the feed and food sector came together to develop a European food and feed standard, Fields of Europe. The steering group, consisting of the Royal Agrifirm Group, ADM, Ameropa, BFA, Donau Soja, Fenaco and Nevedi aimed to create a standard that meets the demand for products created using European plant-based and animal-based protein supply chains, and with a focus on locally produced ingredients for food and feed. The standard has been developed for companies in the feed and food supply chain that wish to produce and market a feed or food product made from non-GMO ingredients sourced from Europe and produced sustainably.

Why a European food and feed standard?

Companies are increasingly choosing to buy and use ingredients of European origin in their feed and food products, not only to preserve traditional European farming practices, but also to close nutrient cycles, reduce food miles and meet demand for non-GMO products.

Currently, each company establishes and verifies European origin independently. With the introduction of Fields of Europe’s shared definitions and practices, European supply chains will unite to meet Europe’s demand for high-quality feed and food products. Fields of Europe is open to all companies in the European food chain that wish to promote the European origin of their products.

Fields of Europe will:

Contribute to an improved understanding of the ‘risks’ of sourcing from Europe
Increase market demand for non-GMO, European soya produced sustainably
Encourage farmers outside the EU-27 to join Donau Soja’s certification programme in order to produce in line with Fields of Europe
Lead to fairer competition by creating a level playing field between the EU-27 and the rest of the European continent

Benefits of using Fields of Europe:

Creates a trustworthy system for local European origin sourcing

Applies a single system covering three areas of interest: origin, non-GMO, and sustainability
Offers an innovative and efficient verification mechanism
Offers active involvement in co-developing the standard in a multi-stakeholder setting

Implementation in the market

In 2021 Fields of Europe became a formal organisation Fields of Europe (FoE) gGmbH, a not-for profit company under Austrian law. Fields of Europe will be an independent organisation under the umbrella of the Donau Soja Association based in Vienna. With the creation of the new organisation, the project enters into a new phase – a phase that is all about implementation of Fields of Europe in the market.

JOIN US

The founding members have a seat on the Steering Committee. This committee meets once every two months to discuss progress. New companies and organisations are welcome to join the initiative and become involved in the user groups, ad-hoc working groups and implementation of pilot projects.

For more information about Fields of Europe:

Contact the Fields of Europe secretariat: info@fieldsofeurope.org
Visit the Fields of Europe website: https://www.fieldsofeurope.org/