Food Transition Coalition of The Netherlands
TCV
Mission of the organisation: Healthy life on a healthy planet to realise by a transition of the food system.
ID: 197160137253-60
Lobbying Activity
Response to EU Start-up and Scale-up Strategy
24 Feb 2025
Eens met genoemde obstakels. daaraan toevoegen: start-ups en scale-ups die duurzame, maatschappelijk verantwoorde oplossingen bieden, lopen (nationaal en Europees) aan tegen 1) oneerlijke concurrentie vanwege fossiele / schadelijke subsidies aan bestaande bedrijven (deze zouden moeten worden afgebouwd tegelijkertijd met opbouwen van duurzame oplossingen), 2) te strakke regelgeving en 3) niet-ondersteunend inkoopbeleid van overheden (bijvoorbeeld voor straatverlichting moet je kijken naar inkoop, onderhoud en elektriciteitskosten, die worden nu afzonderlijk bekeken) 4) externaliteiten worden niet berekend bij inkoop
Read full responseResponse to Sustainable food system – setting up an EU framework
21 Oct 2021
We need a food system with which everyone can enjoy high quality, mainly plant based diets, where farmers are paid for producing high quality food with respect for biodiversity, reduced GHG and a circular and regenerative agriculture to deserve natural resources, space and respect for nature and in which animals are used as little as possible and where high animal welfare is the norm.
In the current food system food pricing does not reflect the true costs (environmental, health, societal). Unhealthy and unsustainable food is too cheap, too readily available and consumption is stimulated by (aggressive) marketing (campaigns). This results in an unhealthy and unsustainable food environment (the environment in which consumers are confronted with food in multiple ways, from marketing to offering, when they move from A to B).
In our reaction we focus on:
1. Food environment
2. The shift to more vegetable diets
3. The principles of True coast, true price.
Read full responseResponse to Setting of nutrient profiles
4 Feb 2021
Consumer product information
The Dutch Food Transition Coalition supports national and EU action to address the fact that over half the population in the EU is overweight, that chronic disease rates and that healthcare costs are increasing. In addition the current pandemic has laid bare the association between poor health and worse health outcomes from diseases such as Covid-19.
The Dutch Food Transition Coalition also believes that we cannot address the health challenges facing the European union without also considering sustainability and therefore believe that an integral approach that looks at both health and sustainability is required. In addition TCV believes that the transition from animal to plant-based protein should also be integrated within policies to improve consumer health.
The Dutch Food Transition Coalition supports clear, scientifically-based product information and recognises that this is a positive step towards a healthier and more sustainable food system but also recognises that research shows that product information plays a small part and therefore additional policy steps to ensure a healthier and more sustainable environment are required.
Recent research from Cambridge University’s “Center for Diet and Activity Research” has shown that 30 years of obesity policy in the UK has been largely ineffective due to the focus on individual behaviour rather than the environment. Policies that address the environment are shown to be more effective and they increase equity.
Currently food environments encourage unhealthy and unsustainable food with fast-food outlets becoming more prevalent and marketing budgets focussed mainly on highly processed food with high levels of sugar, salt, saturated fats and lacking fiber. Research in the Netherlands has shown that over 80% of products promoted fall outside of the Dutch National Dietary guidelines. This means that promotions are currently being used to push consumers to increase their purchases of unhealthy products. In addition all marketing to children of HFSS (high fat, salt and sugar) products should be banned while extending the age used to define children to at least 16 years of age. Other action that should be taken include regulated limits on salt and sugar in products and legislation enabling countries to include health criteria in the permit process for restaurants, cafes and fast food.
Front of pack systems
The Dutch Food Transition Coalition supports a unified front of pack system but recognizes that in order to implement such a system unified dietary guidelines are required. The Dutch Food Transition Coalition therefore recommends:
● A ‘European Dietary Guideline’ for healthy and sustainable life, based upon the existing guidelines, with a focus on the areas of agreement across countries over 80% and including sustainability.
● The rollout and implementation of the unified dietary guidelines is supported by bringing the food environment (offering, marketing, procurement) and education closer to these guidelines
In the absence of unified dietary guidelines the Dutch Food Transition Coalition recommends that the following conditions are applied to any selected system.
See document for further details
Read full responseMeeting with Frans Timmermans (Executive Vice-President)
3 Mar 2020 · Sustainable food systems