In Belgium, Starch Europe hosted its annual conference November 6, on the theme "Innovating Together for a Sustainable Food System: meeting tomorrow’s demands on our agricultural resources."
The high-level event, held at the Bibliothèque Solvay in Brussels, saw distinguished speakers and panelists John Bell, Director, DG Research & Innovation; Mindaugas Maciulevicius, EESC; Miapetra Kumpula-Natri MEP, Krijn Poppe, Chair of the Independent Food2030 Expert Group; Pekka Pesonen, Secretary-General COPA-COGECA and Alain Dufait, President Starch Europe debated the future of the European food system and the Bioeconomy Strategy.
With around 100 participants following the lively debate, all the speakers stressed their enthusiasm for the recently released Bioeconomy Strategy update as a game changer, and agreed on the need and opportunity for all actors, from farmers to industry to political decision-makers, to work together to create a sustainable food system for the future.
The bio-based Starch Industry has a decades-long experience of innovation, transforming EU raw materials into food, feed, energy and industrial products, forever renewing itself to adapt to changing societal demands. Our industry will step up to the challenge to meet these new opportunities to help realise the vast potential of the bioeconomy in the EU but we need a stable, long-term and predictable legal framework as a basis to be successful, said Alain Dufait, president of Starch Europe.
