By Sarantis Michalopoulos | Euractiv.com | video by Josephine Hannay and Mirko Paradiso 21-11-2022 Euractiv is part of the Trust Project >>> Print Email Facebook X LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Europe’s heavy dependence on animal feed, especially genetically modified soya from Latin America, is a major issue. EURACTIV attended the Farmers’ Day event in Dunafö ldvár in Hungary, where local farmers and producers highlighted the need for Europe to focus on producing its own animal feed. Local farmers sell their agricultural products to the industry, using it to produce biofuel and animal feed. Pannonia Bio, the largest ethanol biorefinery in Europe located in Hungary, is considered crucial for the local community’s growth. Mark Turley, founder of the company, told EURACTIV that the industry is being transformed, eyeing the production of human food in addition to biofuel and animal feed production. “We believe in 2-3 years we will be known as a food and ingredients company”, he said. Ethanol industry eyes transformation to kill ‘food vs fuel’ argument Although Hungary’s agriculture minister has recently hailed the ethanol industry’s fresh investments in animal feed and foodstuffs in addition to biofuel production, the European Commission appears to remain unconvinced, still invoking the “food versus fuel” argument.
