BIO AUSTRIA calls for food pricing to include ecological costs

BIO AUSTRIA and the association Zukunft:Essen are calling for a reassessment of food pricing to account for ecological and societal externalities. These hidden costs, which are not reflected in retail or catering prices, include climate damage, biodiversity loss, and soil and water pollution.

In Austria, calculations by Zukunft:Essen suggest that the external costs of the food system amount to approximately 5 to 10 percent of the gross domestic product, or between 27 and 53 billion euros annually. The organizations advocate for these costs to be more heavily weighted in public and collective catering procurement, such as in schools, hospitals, and corporate cafeterias, to promote organic products.

To support these claims, BIO AUSTRIA utilizes a biodiversity calculator, which has already been used by 8,134 organic farms to document their environmental contributions. Similar methodologies, such as True Cost Accounting, are being utilized by institutions like Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands to make the societal costs and benefits of food systems visible.