The Swiss voice in the world since 1935
Top stories
Stay in touch with Switzerland

Experts push for healthier and cleaner Swiss food chain

cows at night
Is it sundown for cows and carnivores? Not likely, but habits will change by 2050. Keystone / A3542/_karl-josef Hildenbrand

Less packaging, less meat, more sustainable production chains: a six-year study looking at how to feed Switzerland over the next decades has presented its findings.

The national research programme “Healthy food and sustainable food productionExternal link” involved 26 projects between 2013 and 2019. Its findings, presented in Bern on Thursday, sketch an outline for how food habits should change between now and 2050.

The researchers grouped their recommendations around four main themes.

Firstly, waste needs to be reduced, they say. This would involve moving away from packaging designed around aesthetic rather than sustainable goals, as well as developing new forms of “intelligent packaging” that could give an indication of how fresh the food still is.

But because half of Switzerland’s food comes from beyond its borders, where packaging standards are different, the researchers say that the best way is still to avoid wastage.

Convincing the population

Secondly, meat consumption should be decreased, and the agriculture sector reformed. Less meat can improve both consumer health and the environment, the researchers say. But it would also lead to problems for many farmers. They need to be helped – notably with subsidies – to transition towards an agriculture more focused on fruits, vegetables, and nuts.

Thirdly, consumers should be more involved. Without their buy-in, such a transition is not possible, the researchers say. Therefore, a greater role for consumer associations would be good – including more possibilities to launch collective action cases.

Finally, the fourth point looks at health and healthy food, which the researchers say should be promoted at all stages of the supply chain. They thus offer recommendations on pollution, best practices in canteens, and advice to individuals on illness and weight management.

The outcome of the project will feed into federal policymaking in the coming years, but it may have more trouble convincing the population: in 2017, two proposals for more food sovereignty and “fairer food” were rejected by Swiss voters.

More
Farmer at machine crushing tomatoes

More

Ethical food proposals brushed off the table

This content was published on Swiss voters have snubbed proposals to improve food quality and protect local farming but agriculture issues remain high on the political agenda.

Read more: Ethical food proposals brushed off the table

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

Porrentruy swimming pool: the town's mayor was not expecting such controversy

More

Porrentruy mayor comments on Swiss pool ban controversy

This content was published on The mayor of the Swiss town of Porrentruy, which has been in the headlines in neighbouring France after restricting access to a pool to locals after a spate of anti-social behaviour, says he has received much support in recent days.

Read more: Porrentruy mayor comments on Swiss pool ban controversy
Trained on the “Alps” supercomputer at the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS) in Lugano, the new LLM marks a milestone in open-source AI and multilingual excellence, according to its developers.

More

Swiss universities to release multilingual AI programme

This content was published on This summer researchers at Swiss universities will make available a large language model (LLM), an AI programme trained on vast amounts of data, developed on public infrastructure.

Read more: Swiss universities to release multilingual AI programme
Zurich cantonal police introduce fixed online police stations

More

Zurich introduces online police station

This content was published on After a one-year test phase, Zurich's cantonal police are introducing an online police station. Demand is high and the response from the public has been positive.

Read more: Zurich introduces online police station
St. Moritz registers the summer as a brand

More

St Moritz registers ‘summer’ as trademark

This content was published on The chic resort of St Moritz in southeastern Switzerland has registered "summer" as a trademark under the name "St Summer". The resort in canton Graubünden is launching a campaign to strengthen its summer business.

Read more: St Moritz registers ‘summer’ as trademark
House prices rose sharply in June

More

Swiss house prices rose sharply in June

This content was published on The prices of homes and apartments in Switzerland rose again in June. In the Lake Geneva region, prices of detached houses rose sharply. Meanwhile, in Zurich and its surrounding region the opposite trend was observed.

Read more: Swiss house prices rose sharply in June
Heavy crowds expected at Swiss airports

More

Crowded airports expected in Switzerland this summer

This content was published on Switzerland's main airports are preparing for a busy summer holiday period. A number of changes have been introduced to improve passenger flows that are expected to be well above average in July and August.

Read more: Crowded airports expected in Switzerland this summer

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR