Large areas of land are needed to grow and produce food. Both the cultivation and production of basic products in the food sector are sources of serious environmental and social problems in places. In conventional agriculture in particular, environmental pollution and human rights abuses can have a massive negative impact on workers’ health, soil fertility and key resources (water, land) in the surrounding municipalities. Examples of challenges include:

Environmental challenges:

• Use of chemical pesticides and fertilisers that can contaminate water, air, soils and foods
• Massive CO2 and methane emissions, e.g. with beef, poultry and pork production, greenhouse gases, rice from irrigated cropping
• Extinction of species accelerated through use of chemical pesticides and fertilisers
• High levels of water and/or energy consumption, e.g. for making synthetic fertiliser and growing certain foods, e.g. avocados
• Soil degradation, e.g. through salinisation
• Species diversity impacted by monocultures
• Deforestation for agricultural purposes: This leads to soil erosion and to a loss of biodiversity
• Use of genetically modified seed and fodder (see: German Genetic Engineering Act (GenTG) and the Ordinance on genetically modified plant production (GenTPflEV)
• Risk of resistant germs and pathogens in poultry farming owing to use of antibiotics
• Laws prohibiting animal cruelty are often overlooked in the case of animal products (e.g. animals are not housed or transported properly or are mutilated)
• Retail and supermarket chains discard up to 30% of fruit and vegetables owing to optical deficits

Social challenges

• Health of farmers and plantation workers is compromised by the incorrect use of chemicals and contact with pesticides, and by a lack of appropriate safety measures for workers (who contract illnesses due to a lack of protective gear, for example) 
• No decent wages
• Long working hours, often in excess of legal regulations, and unpaid overtime
• Child labour and forced labour
• Violence, discrimination and harassment of workers
• Bad housing and sanitation facilities, especially for seasonal and migrant workers
• Water shortages in regions where water-intensive crops like avocados are grown, e.g. in Chile, for example, reduces water availability for the local population   

The degree of food processing is steadily increasing and the volume of processed meals is growing year by year. The generally high levels of energy needed to produce these products, and their often elaborate plastic packaging, makes for a poor ecobalance. A food item’s carbon footprint is often determined less by the product itself and more by where and how it is grown, where it is subsequently shipped to and how it is packaged. In 2018, some 1.13 billion items of packaging were used for food. According to Germany’s Federal Environment Agency (UBA), around 19 million tonnes of packaging waste was accumulated in Germany in 2020. In the case of fruit and vegetables, the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) states thatalmost 60% is pre-packaged and, in more than 50% of cases, plastic wrapping is used. Packaging often makes up 25% of an item’s total weight.

The following environmental and social challenges can arise when processing basic products to make food:

Environmental challenges:

• Use of chemicals and preservatives
• Long transport distances from the point of cultivation to point of processing
• Water consumption and contamination (e.g. through pesticides in water used to wash fruit and vegetables)
• High energy consumption levels for processing and storage
• Many foodstuffs generate massive CO2 and methane emissions, e.g. the production of butter, cheese, chips, coffee and chocolate…
• Use of plastic packaging results in a poor ecobalance
• Softeners and adhesive residues migrate into foods
• Microplastics from degraded plastic waste end up in oceans and groundwater

Social challenges

• Inadequate worker safety: people’s health is compromised by chemicals used in processing and by the absence of adequate protective gear, e.g. in slaughterhouses
• No decent wages
• Long working hours, often in excess of legal regulations, and unpaid overtime
• Housing provided for workers on site is sometimes unfit for human habitation
• Workers experience violence, discrimination and harassment
• Pseudo-self-employed workers via service contracts designed to undermine labour laws

Scientists assume that more than 70% of all diseases in Western industrialised countries are food and lifestyle induced. The main factors include poor diet, a lack of physical activity and excess weight.

Food consumption gives rise to the following social and environmental challenges.

Environmental challenges:

• Food wastage due to poor volume planning

Social challenges

• Unbalanced diet leads to an increased health risk

Germany generates around 12 million tonnes of food waste a year. A study by Münster University of Applied Sciences shows how better planning can significantly reduce food wastage in  commercial kitchens. In its National Strategy for Food Waste Reduction, the German Government has committed to reduce food waste by 50% by 2030. Food disposal gives rise to the following social and environmental challenges.

Environmental challenges:

• Unnecessary use of resources due to food wastage
• Loss of water, energy, vitamins and minerals in the soil, hours and scope of work, fertilisers and cropping areas
• Around 4.4 gigatonnes of completely unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions end up in our atmosphere every year due to wasted foodstuffs. 
• Emissions, water pollution and soil contamination owing to incorrect disposal, particularly of plastic packaging

Social challenges

• Ethical conflict: Worldwide, more than 800 million people are chronically underfed.

Kiwis from New Zealand, tomatoes from the Netherlands, grapes from South Africa and their consumption in Europe: just a few examples of where the foods you eat come from. Around 4% of the foodstuffs consumed in Germany are imported – and account for 70% of the kilometres clocked up for food transport. Long distances are often covered from a basic product’s cultivation site through to its point of consumption. Imported goods consume 11 times more energy, emit 11 times more CO2 and account for 28 times more sulphur dioxide than local produce. The high perishability of certain foodstuffs leads to the use of more CO2-intensive forms of transport, like airplanes, to ensure faster transport. Higher perishability also means that products have to be refrigerated. This consumes yet more energy and puts more strain on the environment. Fuel consumption and emissions negatively impact the environment and stress the climate in a way that is also harmful to human health. Transport with heavy-duty vehicles such as trucks is regulated by the Euro 6 emissions standard (Commission Regulation EU/582/2011), and procurers should demand compliance from hauliers. 

Environmental challenges:

• Climate-damaging CO2 emissions through food transport, especially with overseas goods
• Emissions of nitrogen oxide, particulate matter and sulphur oxide, especially when using diesel engines

Social challenges

• Poor working and living conditions for professional truck drivers from Eastern European countries
• Illegal and unfair social dumping due to tough price war in this sector
• Failure to observe rest times and take breaks