What should be the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) in the future for promoting agroecology? Which local practices and policies exist in Europe that support access to land for young and first generation farmers? Which traditional and new knowledge is available on soil restoration and biodiversity enhancements? Find out at the 2nd Agroecology Europe Forum in Greece 26-28th September. […]
In part one, we outlined just how bad the situation is regarding climate and biodiversity collapse, as well as the people-driven responses to this – from extinction rebellion to the school strikes. Beyond these alarm-raising direct action initiatives, what is there out there to become the system change that’s so clearly needed? Here in part 2 we introduce the social and solidarity economy, and the interesting lessons we can learn from separatist movements from the past and present, from Quebec to Ireland. […]
“Member States may decide to set up eco-schemes for agricultural practices such as the enhanced management of permanent pastures and landscape features, and organic farming” says the European Commission. What does this practically mean for support for organic farming? […]
It took a freedom of information request to reveal the contents of the European Commission’s October 2018 study of the impact of the CAP on climate change and greenhouse gas emissions. It finally came out on the Monday after the European Parliament elections. What can it tell us about the Commission, CAP and climate? […]
Organic livestock farming is the only CAP supported agri-environmental (AES) measure that has been shown to correlate with higher bird numbers. This finding comes from newly published research on birds in Finland. […]
Agroecology is much talked about, and practiced in many regions, but how does it relate to the word of policy-making? In some countries such as France, agroecology forms the basis of developing agri-food policy – albeit in a contested and sometimes contradictory way. […]
An important CAP report was suppressed until just after the European elections, which, nevertheless, saw some significant changes in the Parliament’s political groupings. Oliver Moore has more. […]
There’s big and there’s bigger, and Stefan’s farm is bigger. So what’s involved in running a 1100 hectare organic farm east of Berlin? Read about the history and current realities of the Das Gut Wilmersdorf farm. […]
Yesterday, Marta Zygadlo introduced us to Spanish coalition Por Otra PAC. Today we take a look at the coalitions’ priorities and how it plans to push food sovereignty and agroecological transition in Spain. What would an EU agrifood system based on the principles of solidarity, equity and democracy look like? […]
Following the lead of French, German and Italian food and farming coalitions, this March saw the launch of Coalición Por Otra PAC, a chance for Spanish civil society to join forces to push for a truly sustainable CAP. Marta Zygadlo reports on who the coalition is and what they are trying to achieve. […]
Today, thirty-three food and farming organisations, including ARC2020, have published an open letter to the top candidates for the next European Commission President to push for the implementation of EU Common Food Policy. Read it in full here. […]
How does some research find organic to be better for fighting climate change, and other research finds the opposite? An explainer. […]
German agriculture will need a shake up to meet environmental targets and challenges. Here the platform of 20 food and farming organisations share their response to the proposed eco-schemes in the post-2020 CAP. […]
The Agriculture Committee in the European Parliament voted today by 27 votes to 17 (with one abstention) to agree its position on the CAP strategic plan. This votes represents a significant weakening of the environmental ambition of the CAP reform process, and little progress on fairness in agri and rural supports. However the next Parliament will have the option to reject this and start anew. […]
With insect Armageddon and biodiversity collapse making the headlines, pesticides are public enemy No. 1. Scientists are now naming and shaming pesticides as a key driver of biodiversity loss. Even the European Parliament has caught the bug. MEPs insist that the new CAP must do more to shrug off our dependency on agrochemicals. Meanwhile farmers are showing that – with the right supports – instead of scapegoats for biodiversity loss, they can be part of the solution. […]
Agricultural and Rural Convention