Internship EPHA

To evaluate my internship fully, I will for the last time follow up on my learning objectives (LBs) - which you will find below: 

Gain insight into the world of policy making, implementation, stakeholders and all other affected links.

I can definitely say that this LB has been fulfilled to the fullest. I have gained a great insight into the works of the EU, and it has been such an exciting experience. I cannot say that I have learned everything though, as this process and all it’s variables (industry, lobbying, timing, national governments, etc.) takes years to get to know. The effects of policy and policy change takes time before it shows its impact, and even when it does it can be difficult to determine whether or not it was actually due to the policy change or an external factor. There’s so much still to learn about this ever changing process and I have only seen the tip of the iceberg.  

Develop my research, writing and presentation skills.

Research and writing skills have been two skills which I have used on a daily basis in the office. My presentation skills I got to use once in a while, when presenting my work to my supervisor and especially when I made the layout for recommended answers to EPHA’s members on the CAP Consultation that the Commission sent out. In a way I would also say that networking nurtured my presentation skills, in the sense of presenting myself. Networking is definitely a skill that I will continue to try develop as you it very useful in life. I must say that I admire Sanja (fellow student at the same internship place), as this is really something she excels in. She has been helpful in trying to teach me a thing or two, and push me out of the bird nest. 

Learn more about sustainable agriculture and antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

I have learned a lot about sustainable agriculture, or probably more correct to say is that I have learnt about the possibilities within sustainable agriculture. There’s crop rotation (growing different crops over a time period in the same field, to nurture the soil), hydroponics (an aquaponic system feeding an hydroponic system with it’s waste products), vertical farming (growing plants vertically, ideal for cities with limited farmland available), etc. There’s so many good possibilities, but the issue is that this takes time, money and effort from the farmers’ side. To engage the farmers, they must be “forced” in some way, either by the EU making these choices easy for them or by rewards for sustainable farming. I can only recommend to tune in on this area as it is quite exciting with all the innovation, but also because we all need to have food to eat, preferably healthy food that won’t send us to the hospital in the near future. As I have been focusing on Agriculture mainly during my internship, I have not gotten deep into the topic of AMR. If I look back on the learning objective now, I would only have chosen one. Not because I don’t find both areas exciting, but because 11 weeks is not even enough to get to know one area. My friend Marta worked on AMR, so I have been able to get some interesting facts from her, and it’s very relevant to agriculture, see why below. 

Reflect on the policy-making process and the place of various stakeholders therein.

Policy making is a very loooooooong process, and policies rarely end up being what they first set out to be, sadly. If we just look at the CAP reform. The new CAP is starting from 2020, but the shaping of the policy is a process that really started in the end of 2016, if not before. It’s going to be interesting to see what’s going to happen, meaning which stakeholders are going to have the most influence.  Although stakeholders aren’t the only influence to be taken into account, public opinion and pressure is another. The CAP is a policy that runs for six years, before it gets reformulated again in 2026 hence it comforts me that so much preparation is done for it, as it for ensuring long term future food access within Europe. 

The last and final week of my internship is over and so is my time here in Brussels :( I have enjoyed every moment of it, the people I have met, the challenges I have faced and the things I have seen. When I look back now I cannot believe how fast time has passed by, and if I could I would have extended it, but sadly duty calls in Copenhagen. 

To sum up my last week I have looked deep into the research of the Mediterranean Diet, which I know I have mentioned about a thousand times, but as it turns out it won’t be an article just yet as we found it to be more relevant in the context of some future events happening. I have done a huge research on this topic, and I now know how it started to take shape in the 1948 with Rockefeller’s Crete Study asked for by the Greek government, to assess the island after WW2. Ancel Keys’ Seven Country Study started in 1958, published 1980′s, was the next big milestone, as it explored the relationship between dietary pattern and the prevalence of coronary heart disease in Greece (Crete included), Italy, Spain, South Africa, Japan and Finland. After this it took many research papers, exploring the term and establishing the relationship between certain food (mainly plant based) and CVDs. In 1993 the first Mediterranean Diet Food Pyramid was presented by Oldways, and hereafter the success speaks for itself. Below you can see the current version of Oldways’ Mediterranean Diet Food Pyramid, the very first one was very basic and had no pictures, just text. I like this pyramid because of its holistic approach to diet, which should really be called a lifestyle, as diet implies a time limited concept which it is not. 

Week 9 and 10 has gone by in a glimpse, I cannot believe that it’s already weekend. It might have something to do with me and my boyfriend travelling to Paris in the weekend, and London Monday to Tuesday. That’s really one of the great things about Brussels being so central, that you can take the train almost anywhere. In Paris we had lovely weather which made walking around much better, and we also visited some of my boyfriend’s family. Below you can see Notre Dame, Louvre and The Eiffel Tower from Paris, and Big Ben, The London Eye and us in front of Buckingham Palace in London. Everything was blossoming, so it was very beautiful. 

In the week before we went to Paris, I kept working on my article on the Mediterranean Diet and how the name is often not clearly defined to the public and used wrongly by companies in order to promote their products. I had a chat to my supervisor and he thought that it could be great if we turned it into a bit more of a research project, looking at the different Mediterranean Diet Food Pyramids that exist and their differences and countrie’s food pyramid differences in comparison. At the moment I’m trying to figure out how the pyramid shape came into existence. So far it has brought me past the Seven Country Study, Ancel Keyes and Walter Willet. The article is now a bit bigger and more extensive than before but hopefully I will finish it in the coming week, as it is our last week.  Besides the above I have also found references from reports and studies used in the reports for Audiovisual Media Service Directive (AVMSD). AVMSD is the legal framework that are the fundamental principles for a safe and open audiovisual media landscape in  Europe, and it’s currently under review at EU level to adapt the legislation to the digital age. One problem that has definitely been addressed is marketing of High Fat, Salt and Sugar (HFSS) food and alcohol to children. This goes well together with EU’s focus on public obesity, but not at least obese children. Children watch on average 2-3 hours of TV per day and within this time, they see a food commercial every 5-10 minutes. This is just in TV, there’s a million other channels to send marketing messages through such as: Advergames, print media, internet, product packaging, ads within video games, product placement, character licensing, sponsorship of sports teams or individual athletes, celebrity endorsement, in-school marketing, etc. Studies show that marketing affect sales greatly, and the more children are exposed to food adverts, the more they want the food and sadly these commercials are never for fruit and vegetables. From EPHA and it’s members’ side they are trying to limit the exposure of marketing to 20% in children’s awake hours, so from 7:00-23:00, and especially within the prime time (18:00-23.00) markting should also be kept to 20% maximum. As the amendments (the changes) to the legislation sadly didn’t get taken into consideration in the first round, we’re again trying to proof that there’s a link between Childhood obesity and Marketing. I was then asked to find scientific proof for questions that might arise within the general public, so that the proposal can gains some support. These were questions such as:  “Is marketing of foods high in fat, sugar and salt and alcohol associated with health harm?” , “Does marketing influence children’s consumption behaviour?” and “How much are children exposed to marketing?”. The answers to most of these questions are very obvious, and it was very educational to find the scientific proofs. If the EU is serious about stopping the wave of obese children, then why is it so difficult to adjust legislation to scientific proof? One answer: the industry. 

Acrylamide - You have probably heard the word before, and most likely it has some negative connotations in you mind, but you can’t quite seem to remember why, and where exactly this belongs. If so, then you are not the only one.  This week I attended a conference regarding food safety, hosted by a food safety advocacy, which amongst other things focused on acrylamide in food.  What? Acrylamide forms when starchy food products are heated up at high temperatures and under low moisture conditions. It is present in many staple foods, such as potato, bread and coffee. It is also a chemical in tobacco smoke and used in industrial processes such as water treatment and paper making. 

Why the fuss?

Exposure to acrylamide, in larger amounts, have been classified as “probable carcinogen” by the United Nations International Agency for Research in Cancer. WHO and EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) has also recognised it as a major concern for public health. Besides possibly cancerous, it’s also thought to be harmful to the nervous system. 

Oh no!

Relax, acrylamide can be dangerous but it depends very much on the amount of consumption, and who consumes it. 

I don’t understand…?

The European Commission has set a benchmark which is a suggested limited amount of acrylamide in food. The benchmark is although non legally-binding, and if companies exceed them no fine exists. In terms of the consumer, infants and children have a higher exposure to acrylamide because of their small bodies, thereby putting them at higher risk.  Can i reduce the intake?  Yes - the general advice is to avoid that food gets overcooked, such as burnt toast and overcooked fries. In terms of buying habits, biscuits, potato chips and other starchy, dry products should be avoided, as they can contain high levels. 

Expectations and real life experiences are two very different things, but that’s the beauty of travelling - nothing is ever as you expect. 

Before I left Copenhagen I though had to try and gather my expectations and write them down, this became my following learning objectives. Below each objective, you’ll find my thoughts upon my achievement of these.

- Gain insight into the world of policy making, implementation, stakeholders and  all other affected links. 

Since my very first day abbreviations such as MEP, EP, EC have been casually used in conversations. In the start I remember myself being very confused with all these and more combinations of letters, but as time passes you come to learn that MEP means Member of the European Parliament, EP is the European Parliament and EC is the European Commission. The policy making world is quite as I expected it to be, long time for implementation as proposals have many links they need to go through and for every link there’s a slight change, after many links the proposal will have changed completely from the original. Policies end up never being 100% in line with one group of the EP, but will always be somewhat of a middle way - which is both a great and a bad thing. Implementation is a case on its own. Those who attend policy meetings as private people, have the general feeling that policies aren’t reflecting real life, which frustrates the general public and makes implementation difficult. The EU is also a business while being a public governing body, and it tend to favour policies that benefit economic growth short term, hence favouring big industries. This leaves a very difficult situation for SMEs (small and medium sized enterprises), and public health is often overlooked as it doesn’t bring any quick economic return. I was very surprised to find out that the EU expect so much of the Health department yet provide them with such a small budget to do so.

- Develop my research, writing and presentation skills. 

As of the moment I have definitely been researching a lot, and I have become fond of the search function for entire documents/sites (cmd+f), whether i have developed in the area, I find difficult to say. I know that searching for specific words in online documents doesn’t apply to all formats hence scanning for key words are necessary. In terms of articles, I have definitely practiced and I find myself trying to limit unnecessary information, so that my articles are brief, concrete and precise. I wrote an article on a health based VAT system in the EU, which are to go out with this month’s newsletter, next week, and as of the moment im gathering research for a new one. I’m definitely reading articles with my “scientific-proof” glasses on as Alex taught us. As of presentation, I haven’t done any powerpoint presentations, but I have presented brief knowledge from the various meetings, conferences and on subjects to my supervisor. 

- Learn more about sustainable agriculture and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). 

I’m working on the Food, Drink and Agriculture area, and so my knowledge about sustainable agriculture, or at least how it is defined has definitely increased. Knowledge about AMR is bit more limited as it’s not an area I’m working on, but I have picked up information here and there. I know that my knowledge about AMR very well reflects the general public’s and even the EP’s knowledge, as this area is very new and is yet to be explored in depth, hopefully quickly so that it can benefit all of us. Both areas or actually all areas EPHA work within, have a great amount of knowledge to them and can’t be understod over a short period of time. It takes time, dedication and hard work which reflects all on EPHA’s team and is why I admire all of them to a great extent. 

- Reflect on the policy-making process and the place of various stakeholders therein. 

I guess I answered this question a bit in my first objective. I would though like to add, that navigating around all the stakeholders, separating the good ones from the bad ones, is a bit like navigating in a new city without google maps to show you the way. I must admit to having a limited knowledge of all the stakeholders that exists before I came, and even worse was it before I started my studies. I observe and I slowly learn. I come to know that the industry is very interested in educating us on what “good” nutrition and “good” consumption is, when all they should be doing is sticking to selling their products, but I guess that’s also the thought behind their education programs. 

Family visit this weekend ❤️

One of the highlights of this week was a conference about vaccine hesitancy within Europe, and how these choices actually affect all of us, and not just those individuals who decides not to be vaccinated. Why is this? Well there are several causes of this, of hesitancy and the whole concept of vaccination: 

Community Immunity: A term that can be applied when a critical portion of the community is immunised against a contagious disease. This will then protect the majority of the community against the disease and minimise the opportunity for an outbreak, as the spread of the disease have been contained. This method has been effectively applied in Europe’s past, and has given us this luxury of choice whether or not to have a vaccine. More and more the latter seems to be the appealing choice, and we’re moving away from community immunity, but which groups are making these choices and why?

Parents: Parents are the main group of determinants for vaccines, as most vaccines are given to babies, children and up. If parents choose not to let their children vaccinate at the right age, then these children are later in life much more susceptible to infections, no surprise there. What is though surprising is that the unvaccinated carriers (children) can infect individuals who couldn't be vaccinated due to their age, because of immunodeficiency or economic reasons. Currently there seem to be this trend of parents choosing not to vaccinate their kids, which leds me to next cause.  

Scientific facts: Media, reporters, doctors, you name it bombards us with information daily and the clear definition of actual facts vs fake facts, seems to have been blurred. This problem can although not solely be blamed on the media, but the fault also lies with the individual, and both lack critical source verification skills. Before parents, adults or individuals make the choice not to get a particular vaccination, for themselves or others, they have to  be made aware of the scientific proven benefits vs. the risks, so that they can make an informed choice. 

Informed choices: The problem with todays informed choices, in terms of diseases, is that we have gotten so detached from what we are being vaccinated against that nobody really knows what it feels like to have Tuberculosis or Cholera anymore (luckily). This detachment makes the risks outweigh the benefits of vaccines, although these risks are much smaller than the overlooked risks of our daily lives, for instance driving in your car. Remember that the complications of vaccine-preventable diseases are far greater than any side effect from a vaccine. 

Doctor’s role: Todays doctors face hard challenges, as patients aren’t easily pursued by authorities’ advice, at least not as they once were. We do no longer believe our doctors entirely, especially if they don’t provides us with the answers that were looking for. We question knowledge and we get second opinions, which is a good outcome of this but fake facts easily leads us in the wrong direction. Doctors are therefore extremely important in the vaccine-patient equation. They need to work with and not against patients, when they claim to have adverse side effects or hesitate towards vaccines, but time is money and money makes the world go around... but disease outbreaks isn’t free either and that cost is often higher than preventive measures. 

Week 2 is slowly coming towards its end, and it has been filled with a lot of first-time experiences. This week I have spent more time out of the office, than in the office.. actually I have spent that time in my “second office” at The European Parliament, conferences and meetings in town. 

A video posted by sof_err (@sof_err) on Feb 7, 2017 at 1:17pm PST

Video: Two conferences in one day

The Parliament is very big and rather confusing to figure out, at least at first sight. If you don’t have a permanent sign, you will get one of the beautiful stickers you see above. This grants you access to enter what looks like the security line in the airport, on the premisses of you caring a national ID - and no a drivers license from Legoland is not sufficient. 

The above video is from monday where is was so lucky to go to two events, one a bit more interesting than the other. The first one was: “Food Sovereignty within a new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)” where farmers, researchers and policy makers came together to hear critiques of the current CAP, hence inputs to the new which they are slowly starting to gather now. It became clear that farmers are not satisfied with the current situation, some of the critique was: 

- Support is going to the large industrial farms, and the small and medium sized farms are going out of business. 

- Overproduction occurs because of too low market prices. 

- Dumping occurs because of overproduction. While this can destroy markets where dumped, the poor population there gets access to cheap foods and by removing them you will eliminate food security. 

- Addressing the huge CO2 emission from farming is difficult with the decreasing economic support.

I learned a lot during this hearing about the general perception of this policy,  talked to some greek farmers, plus it made me read about the history of it. Did you know that the CAP was created after the 2WW to ensure food security within Europe? And that prices would be very different with out this? After reading Maria’s blog post on food prices, a fellow classmate who’s currently in Barbados, I could tell that she definitely found out the pro’s and con’s of the European subsidies. 

A picture from an event (IFamily) I went to with Sanja this thursday. The events are good, but sadly non of these health-lifestyle-obesity related events, bring any news to the area. I’m aware of the fact that they might be preaching to the converted, but honestly it’s no news that kids who watch a great amount of tv, have a higher risk of becoming obese. What could be intersting is studies in how you could change this. How are you gonna reach the individuals on the other side of the screen? Because it’s definitely not going to be the tv channels who will focus on this - that would be suicide (Credit needs to go to my supervisor, Nikolai, who came with that thought). 

I finished my week off by attending an EU Studies Fair, from which I gained these career advice from a mix of lawyers, NGO workers, researchers, Journalists and Consultants. 

- Find your passion.

- Be creative.

- Gain insight into other cultures through travel.

- Learn new languages.

- Networking is important.

- Learn to confidently bullshit about things you don’t know. 

My first week in Brussels, my new home for the next 11 weeks, have passed and so far it has been really good. I started at my intern place, EPHA, the 1st. of February. It was a soft start Wednesday, and an introduction to the five focus areas thursday:  

- Antimicrobial Resistance: Interesting how what would normally be considered a normal operation, can turn into one with fatal consequences because bacteria becomes resistant. 

-  Food, Drink and Agriculture: The area where I am working, which is a very broad area, almost too much for our one supervisor. It encounters sustainable agriculture which influences the general population health, food and drink consumption and the policies and regulations surrounding these. 

- Healthy Economic Policy: Health inequalities have only worsened and have had negative health implications for especially vulnerable people. Change is needed, so this inequality gap can be decreased, and the general population health level can be raised. 

- Trade for Health (TTIP and CETA): Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (The US and Europe); the main idea is opening the US up for EU firms and investments and vice versa, although it is much more complicated and extensive than just so. The Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (Canada and Europe); Makes the process of export of goods and services between the two easier, benefitting people and businesses in general. Both agreements have negative and positive impacts, which can be explored by those interested. 

- Universal Access and Affordable Medicines: Medicine and treatments are becoming increasingly expensive, and many new products are no more effective than the previous one. EPHA advocates for a change, more transparency and affordable medicines within this area. 

The past days I have been looking at Europe’s VAT system, as the system needs to be modified to fit the digital world of the 21st century. We hope to be able to influence the system towards a more health based VAT system. This could be done by increasing VAT on for instance SSB (Sugar Sweetened Beverages) and decrease VAT on fruit and vegetables. Sadly from our research today, it may seem that any changes likely to happen are postponed to the start of 2018. 

Besides from the days spent in the European Quarter, I am so fortunate to have had the time to experience the city of Brussels. This week passed with visiting the various cafés, eating Brussels best Pain au Chocolat - forget everything i just said about a health based VAT, this was definitely worth every calorie! This was from a cafe called Charli which also happens to have a bakery of the same name, in the Saint Catherine area. 

As the active person I strive to be, and for the constant fear of having a Pain au Chocolat permanently attached to my abdominal, I have explored the different parks around the city through walking or running. Below you will see the Parc du Cinquantenaire avec ses arcades... (yes my language skills are developing fast...)

I’m in the middle of a big packing/cleaning up mess, as I’m trying (notice trying) to pack my suitcase but also pack down my room, which has shown to be rather difficult.

My internship is days away from start, but my mind haven’t seem to process this yet, and I dont feel like I’ll be going for 11 weeks. The last couple of weeks have been so busy, that I haven’t had much time to imagine what will meet me once i get there. Therefore packing is quite difficult, because which kind of clothes do you need -  you wouldn’t want to get there to realise that you packed all the wrong things, especially when you only have 23kg and your suitcase weighs 5kg on it’s own. Not only is it the clothing issue that confronts me, because believe me, I have this issue pretty much every day, but also what other items do I bring? How many books for hobby reading now that there’s no tv? How about sports clothes, is there going to be a gym overflow like in Copenhagen? How much do I actually use a hair straightener? And do I need pen and paper? Do i bring this or that..? 

Besides the above considerations - I’m excited to get a change of air for a while, and get some insider knowledge on how policy making and the EU commission functions. I know for sure that it will be learning experience, and an eye opener for future possibilities. It’s going to be exciting to experience a different culture, although i expect my workplace to be quite the cocktail of nationalities.