Updates from EU Member States, including reports from ARC Web Correspondents
ARC2020’s Communications Director spend a week on the road in rural Greece recently, with force of nature Pavlos Georgiadis – farmer, food producer, film maker, campaigner, social innovator and community manager with the exciting new GROW Observatory. Here’s a snapshot of their trip. […]
Without farming, Britain’s countryside would be drastically different. Imagine walking through landscapes un-tilled, un-sown, un-fertilised and un-treated, nor grazed by cattle or sheep. Land abandonment or tropic rewilding? […]
“We invite you to listen, understand each other, share, dream contribute, enjoy and act to change and improve our societies.” With these words of Forum Synergies’ Philippe Barret, so began the European Rural Sustainability Gathering 2017 in Karditsa. […]
A number of organisations made submissions to the CAP consultation, which closed last week. Here we outline three differing ones – one from public health, one from farming and one, which we devote more space to, from a platform bringing a number of organisations together in Germany. 1 Public Health Organisation (EPHA) The EPHA European Public Health Association point out that agriculture and health policies are not aligned, despite Article 168 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) mandates that “a high level of human health protection shall be ensured in the definition and implementation of all Union policies and activities.” Like many others, the organisation argues against land based payments and for more policy coherence. Specifically, they point to three key changes: Removing health-harmful subsidies Moving from hectare payments to performance incentives Fostering sustainable healthy diets The EPHA’s submission intro can be found HERE the full response can be found HERE and the annex HERE. 1 Farmer Organisation (EMB) The European Milk Board prioritised coordinated approach to price and market stability, as well as […]
The CAP consultation is complete, and the results are in. So who participated, and how representative was the process? Here ARC2020 presents the top three key insights from the information available so far. […]
As we build towards the European Rural Sustainability Gathering (ERSG) in Greece, 1 7-20th May, we publish now an exclusive interview with Shannon McCabe of Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company. This interview was conducted at the Peliti Olympic Seed Festival, which took place in Drama Greece last month. Peliti are co-organisers of the ERSG. […]
In the build up to the Forum Synergies European Rural Sustainability Gathering 17-20th May, we continue our focus on grassroots initiatives in Greece. Here, we talk to Panagiotis Sainatoudis and Vasso Kanellopoulou. The chat happened at the 17th seed festival of Peliti and the first international Olympic Seed festival in Peliti, Drama, Greece 20-22 April. […]
French government report warns of problems for European agriculture after Brexit, while outlining priorities for CAP. […]
An upcoming EU seminar on the potential for results-based agri-environment schemes – or High Nature Value farmland – is happening Thursday, 30th March. In advance, Dolores Byrne outlines the case for HNVf.
Slavery still exists in the EU, with some horticultural produce coming from places with extreme, inhumane working conditions which fit the International Labour Organisation’s definition of forced labour. There are ways to start dealing with this, at policy and local levels, including via community supported agriculture. […]
A recent report for Eating Better points out that future policies towards livestock farming and trade in the UK and EU should support a shift to healthy sustainable diets. More coherent approaches to environmental objectives such as climate change, protecting nature and high animal welfare should be developed. […]
Over 130 European CSOs and NGOs, including ARC2020, have today come together to demand better food and farming policies for Europe. The joint action, in the form of a Common Statement, coincides with a CAP consultation and the Agricultural and Fisheries Council meeting which starts at 10AM Monday 06/03/2017. […]
A team of researchers in France have shown that is it possible to reduce pesticide use on most French arable farms without impacting on either yield or profitability. […]
With Brexit, migration and veg shortages, now is a great time to better understand who picked Britain’s fruit and veg in the past. We take a trip with Caroline Nye, encountering 14th Century Irish and modern day Ukrainian migrants. […]
Hannes Lorenzen spoke with Vassileios Bellis ahead of the European Rural Sustainability Gathering in Thessaly, Greece 17-21st May 2017. Bellis is General Director of the Development Agency of Karditsa. […]
Agricultural and Rural Convention