Engaging in the European Plant Food Summit: Driving the Transition Toward Sustainable Food Systems
We were pleased to participate in the Plant Food Summit 2025 in Copenhagen, an important gathering of policymakers, researchers, farmers and industry leaders from across Europe committed to shaping the future of sustainable food systems in Europe. The event brought together a wide range of perspectives, from policy and science to entrepreneurship and farming, all […]
Animals Missing in the European Commission’s 2026 Work Programme
The European Commission presented its 2026 Work Programme to the European Parliament today, outlining the EU’s political priorities for the coming year. The tone could not be clearer: competitiveness, market efficiency, and security dominate the agenda. Sustainability, social justice and any vision for a systemic transformation of the agri-food sector appear, at best, as secondary […]
A step backwards for fairness and climate : European Parliament endorses meat-term ban for plant-based food
In a move that exposes the contradictions at the heart of EU food policy, the European Parliament today voted to adopt amendment banning the use of terms such as “burger,” “sausage,” or “steak” for plant-based products. The measure, adopted as part of the broader simplification package of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), marks yet another […]
Towards a truly sustainable ‘EU Livestock Strategy’
In a letter to European Commissioner Christophe Hansen and the European Commission, we called for the forthcoming strategy on animal farming to deliver real sustainability, resilience and improved animal welfare. Intensive animal farming is incompatible with the EU’s climate and biodiversity goals. The sector is responsible for over 80% of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and […]
Placing healthy diets at the heart of Europe’s Cardiovascular Health Plan
On World Heart Day (29 September), Animal Advocacy and Food Transition (AAFT) joined 19 other organisations in calling on the European Commission to put healthy diets, especially plant-based foods, at the heart of its upcoming EU Cardiovascular Health Plan. Europe’s biggest killer is preventable Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the single largest cause of death in […]
Protecting plant-based foods: opportunity, not confusion
Across Europe, conservative forces are attempting to roll back the use of traditional food terms for plant-based alternatives – as they already did for milk. At first glance, these attacks may seem like semantic debates, but they are really about protecting a declining meat industry and appeasing the struggling conventional farming sector. We joined the […]
Learning & aligning: reflections from CARE Conference 2025
Last week, we had the privilege of taking part in the CARE Conference on Animal Rights in Europe 2025, joining the roundtable “Are We Optimizing for Our Goals? Strategic Alignment in Animal Advocacy”, moderated by Tobias Leenaert. Olga Kikou participated in the panel alongside Ben Newman, Jayasimha Nuggehalli and Connor Jackson, exploring how we can […]
Joining the conversation on sustainable food systems at the European Vegan Summit 2025
The European Vegan Summit 2025 held online, is an annual event, a key gathering that brings together policymakers, industry leaders and civil society actors to explore the future of sustainable food systems. This year’s summit offered a rich agenda, addressing critical themes such as innovation in plant-based products, the transition to fairer and more sustainable […]
Animals forgotten in von der Leyen’s State of the Union
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen took the floor this morning, in front of the European Parliament in Strasbourg for her yearly State of the Union address. The speech is meant to set the political tone and priorities for the coming year. And it laid bare a troubling reality: food systems transformation and animal […]
Ahead of the State of the Union speech, civil society sounds alarm on the Commission’s deregulation agenda
On the eve of President Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the Union speech, hundreds of civil society organisations, trade unions, and public interest groups have voiced alarm over the European Commission’s push for deregulation. Just nine months into von der Leyen’s new term, the Commission is preparing an unprecedented drive to roll back protections […]
