No food without living land. Let's act together!

Our generation is the first to know the effects of climate change. We know the figures too: one third of carbon emissions come from the food chain. While some people see this as just a problem, it is in fact our primary lever for action. The one that everyone can seize!

In the face of the climate emergency, food is a big part of the solution! But to do this, we must have the courage to change our model.

And to change food, let's start by changing the way we produce it. Intensive agriculture as we know it is an aberration. In 2022, the UN Convention to Combat Desertification warned, in the second edition of the Global Land Outlook,[1] about the acceleration of soil degradation and its consequences on populations. 40% of the world's land is degraded, compared to 25% in 2017.

At the same time, FAO studies indicate that we will only have about 60 harvests left if we continue at this rate, and that there is already a loss of nutritional quality in what we harvest.

We have to remember that what we produce depends on the land and on the people who put their heart and soul into it: farmers. It will be impossible to meet the food needs of a population that will reach nearly 10 billion people by 2050 without collectively changing our relationship with the land, without taking care of it.

There is a solution: regenerative agriculture. The strength of this new approach is that, if we respect and listen to nature, it can very quickly become an ally in restoring soil health, promoting biodiversity, retaining water and capturing carbon. It's a virtuous circle: earthworms start digging galleries again, helping roots to grow deeper into the soil and water to circulate, micro-organisms transform matter into nutrients essential for plant growth, and the soil, trodden on by a multitude of species, is able to capture carbon. A sustainable agriculture and livestock model takes advantage of this natural role of the land. This results in reduced use of synthetic inputs and fossil fuels. Also, when the proteins - such as peas or alfalfa - that the cow needs to feed itself are grown on the farm, that reduces the soy imports that deforest Brazil.

This model has the advantage of being local, sovereign, and allowing ecosystems to be more resilient to external shocks.

This transition requires supporting and accompanying our milk and apple-producing partners in the transformation of their practices and the adoption of regenerative methods. Let us never forget that they are the ones who feed the world. At Bel, we are in the process of building together and innovating alongside them, wherever we are located. We work from farm to fork, so that each portion we offer is a portion of good food for our consumers. Preserved land means healthy, nutritious, quality milk and apples for our products!

The subject is eminently collective. Our challenge today is impact. And we will only have this impact if we act together, in a coordinated and robust approach. I would like to initiate a movement to make regenerative agriculture the norm for everyone and everywhere, and to include it in a reference framework co-constructed with our partners: WWF France and Earthworm Foundation . We will share our experiences and deploy innovative regenerative agriculture practices in the field, monitored and measured by recognised technical experts, such as Biosphères and Earthworm Foundation. My objective is to bring together, on an international scale, all the partners who wish to do so - suppliers, cooperatives, distributors, players in the agri-food or catering industries, etc. - around the development of regenerative agriculture practices.

I therefore call on all food stakeholders who wish to combine respect for nature, nutritional capacity, and farm resilience to join us in this Open Alliance.

Together, let's give life back to the earth so that it continues to sustain us!

[1] Global Land Outlook, second edition, UN Convention to Combat Desertification, 2022.