Think local, eat local and be COOL
Artisan, craft foods made with local ingredients and a reduced carbon footprint – all rising trends in 2016 that even 'Big Food' cashed in on.
But the wave of locavorism is happening on a national scale too, and the push is coming from policymakers who could have the decisive hand in ensuring consumers really do eat local, regional or national food.
Romania has proposed a local food law which would require a minimum amount of products sold on shelves to come from Romanian producers while the Polish government is in the process of introducing a ‘Made in Poland’ label. Foods that contain more than 25% imported ingredients will not be allowed to use it.
Meanwhile France began trialling a period of mandatory country of origin labelling (COOL) for processed meat and dairy products, sparking a domino effect as Greece, Italy, Finland, Lithuania and Portugal swiftly followed suite.
Industry lobbies have warned that all this will mean nothing more than headaches for producers and rising prices for consumers, but it seems the Commission has decided country of origin labelling doesn’t violate the EU’s single market - it has authorised member states to conduct trial periods - meaning COOL could well be on the cards in 2017.
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