AUTHORS: Melanie Muro and Tijn van Vugt
Shifting toward more plant-based diets in the EU is crucial for tackling health, environmental, and economic challenges. However, policy measures that encourage this shift remain largely untapped. This policy brief explores the most effective demand-side interventions, drawing on existing evidence and the recommendations of the Strategic Dialogue, to outline key priorities for action at both the EU and Member State levels.
Food is more than nourishment; it shapes our culture, identity, and communities. For instance, in 2013, the UNESCO recognised the Mediterranean Diet as an intangible cultural heritage of humanity. However, the very systems that sustain us are also driving poor health and environmental degradation in Europe. Unhealthy diets are the second leading cause of premature death in the EU, after smoking, contributing to rising rates of obesity and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. This trend is attributed to diets low in fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and nuts and high in animal-based and processed foods, saturated fats, sugar, and salt.
A shift to more plant-rich diets could improve public health and prevent premature deaths in the EU. It would also reduce the environmental footprint of European diets, lowering carbon emissions, conserving water, reducing land use, and enhancing resilience to climate change. Such a change could help mitigate the impacts of food production on animal welfare and decrease the risk of zoonotic diseases.
Despite these clear benefits, demand-side policy interventions remain largely underutilised across the EU. While information-based measures like food labelling and educational campaigns alone have limited impact, they can be effective when combined with fiscal and regulatory policies. Nudging strategies—such as food placement and portion adjustments—have proven successful in influencing consumer choices. Fiscal measures, including taxes and subsidies, can drive significant change but must be carefully designed to ensure fairness and public support. Meanwhile, regulatory tools like public procurement reforms and marketing restrictions hold strong potential but remain underexplored.
The Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture proposes a range of actions to facilitate a shift towards more sustainable and healthier diets. Key areas of focus include food labelling, promotion, provision, and pricing, with an emphasis on information instruments and administrative rules related to food provision.
Priority actions should include the following:
EU-level actions:
- Revision of the EU Public Procurement Directive to prioritise sustainability and health in public food procurement.
- Updating EU food labelling legislation to provide clear, science-based sustainability labels, expanding its scope to out-of-home food providers, such as in restaurants and canteens.
- Developing EU-wide legislation to regulate marketing to children across all platforms (physical, digital, and TV).
Member State actions:
- the development of concrete plans for providing free school meals in primary schools, accompanied by educational programs starting from kindergarten to promote sustainability awareness from an early age.
- the implementation of fiscal measures, such as taxes on less sustainable foods and subsidies for plant-based alternatives.
For areas outside the EU’s direct competence, EU institutions should consider supporting Member States by coordinating and aligning efforts through expert platforms, helpdesks, and industry engagement initiatives.
Finally, while this brief focuses on consumer-driven changes, supply-side transformations, particularly in livestock production, must accompany these shifts. Governments can accelerate progress by aligning demand-side measures with ambitious climate reduction targets, incentives to encourage farmers to take up more sustainable farming practices and market-based measures such as an agricultural emissions trading system (ETS) applied to upstream actors like retailers and processors.
We thank the European Environmental Bureau – EEB for their financial support and review of early versions of this briefing.
Cover page image by Chantal Garnier on Unsplash
