Food and Agriculture Organization

Voluntary standards for sustainable food systems: challenges and opportunities Food and Agriculture Organization

Voluntary standards are increasingly being presented as a tool to foster sustainable consumption and production. They are very often seen as the solution, the tool to make consumption and production more sustainable. They can deliver positive economic, environmental or social impacts, but they can also present challenges, particularly for small-scale producers. This publication is a compilation of the papers presented at the workshop, organized by the FAO/UNEP program in June 2013. The various sessions of the workshop considered issues that could address the needs of the various stakeholders in order to facilitate the uptake and scaling up of voluntary standards for sustainable food systems.