Renewable energy is not very sustainable in the European Union (EU) yet but the food industry, which is heavily reliable on subsidies to stay competitive with the rest of the world, needs renewable energy costs to come down to remain viable.

Until then, the food sector is going to resist using renewable energy, which is a scant 7 percent of their usage, compared to 15 percent in the EU overall. Instead of advocating basic research to improve renewable energy, the call is out to lower meat consumption in a new report. And of course to reduce food choices by shopping locally and seasonally.

The energy content of a typical 'European food basket' composed of 17 largely consumed food products, the report provides an estimate of the amount of energy needed to cultivate, process, pack and bring food to European citizens' tables. The food basket is based on data from EU-27 in 2013 (when data for Croatia who joined the same year were not available) and accounts for about 60% of EU food consumption. The energy required to ensure food supply in the EU amounted to around 26 % of the EU's final energy consumption in 2013. In the report, different solutions are discussed on how to lower this figure and to make it more sustainable by increasing the renewable energy share.

It isn't just farmers who need to cut back, the report notes. Consumers need to reduce their energy 'food print' includes reducing consumption of meat and animal-related products, buying locally and seasonally, as well as reducing food waste and choosing organic food when possible.

Organic food? The scholars deviate from the consensus and claim that organic food is less energy-intensive when science studies show just the opposite: It takes more land, more energy and more environmental strain for the same food.

Different food products need very different amounts of energy depending on their nature, their origin and the kind of processing they require. Refined food and products of animal origin generally need much more energy than vegetables, fruit and cereal products.