Key facts
- EU farm subsidies have disproportionately benefited meat and grain sectors, leading to more expensive fruits and vegetables.
- The cost of a healthy diet in Europe increased by 36% from 2021 to 2025.
- The FAO report highlights a lack of investment in research to reduce the cost of producing fruits and vegetables.
- The average daily cost of a healthy meal in Europe rose to $3.97.
- Recommendations include reallocating subsidies and investing in innovation for fruit and vegetable production.
European Union farm subsidies have inadvertently driven up the cost of fruits and vegetables, making healthy diets less accessible, according to a recent report by the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The report, published Tuesday, states that the price of a healthy diet in Europe surged by 36 percent between 2021 and 2025. While broader inflationary pressures from the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and potential Middle East instability have contributed to rising food prices globally, the FAO points to specific agricultural policies within the EU. Politicians are criticized for primarily subsidizing starchy crops like grains and the meat sector. This focus, the FAO argues, makes it disproportionately expensive to cultivate vegetables, fruits, and legumes. David Laborde, a lead author of the report and the FAO's director of agrifood economics, described this as an "indirect taxation." Europe's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), a significant EU funding program since the 1960s, is identified as a contributing factor. However, Laborde noted that the lack of investment in research to reduce the production costs of fruits and vegetables, which are often labor-intensive, has had an even greater impact on healthy food affordability. For the average European, the daily cost of a meal meeting minimum healthy diet requirements increased by $1 between 2021 and 2025, reaching $3.97. This European price increase outpaces the global average rise of 25 percent. Vegetables, fruits, and legumes constitute nearly 60 percent of the cost for a healthy meal, while grains and rice account for only 13 percent. Globally, most farm subsidies are directed towards grains, dairy, beef, and oil crops for animal feed. An estimated 80 percent of EU support goes to animals or feed, and hectare-based subsidies make vegetable farming less attractive compared to other crops. The FAO recommends reallocating subsidies towards fruit and vegetable farming and increasing investment in innovation to lower labor costs in vegetable production. Other suggestions include reducing food waste, supporting inputs like fertilizers, and enhancing price transparency. The European Commission, while declining to comment directly on the FAO report, stated that it does not intend to dictate consumer food choices. A spokesperson highlighted the EU's "protein action plan," which aims to reduce foreign feed dependency and boost legume production for human consumption. The success of such initiatives will likely depend on upcoming discussions for the 2028-2034 Common Agricultural Policy.