There are limits on the amounts of pesticides allowed in our food. Except, that is, where these limits get in the way of free trade. Isabella Lang calls out the EU’s anticipatory obedience to the WTO, double standards on pesticide exports, and the failure to assess the cumulative health risk of pesticides for humans. […]
Justice Pesticides is an organisation that compiles a worldwide database of pesticide litigation. Here we share two articles from Justice Pesticides’ March newsletter. The first introduces a recently published brochure on court cases involving neonicotinoid pesticides, and the second outlines the return of neonicotinoids to sugar beet fields in France. […]
Contribution au débat autour de la Communication sur une vision à long terme pour les zones rurales, qui sera publiée prochainement par la Commission européenne, La proposition consiste à se greffer sur le Semestre européen existant, en faisant en sorte d’y inclure la totalité des préoccupations rurales – environnementales, sociales, économiques, numériques, éducatives, etc. Par Marjorie Jouen. […]
As the debate around genetically-modified “super crops” heats up, tried-and-tested solutions to tackling the climate crisis are in danger of being left out in the cold. Any deregulation of new GMOs threatens to undermine diverse and self-determined approaches to seed and food production that enhance biodiversity and soil health, and strengthen the resilience of entire agro-ecosystems, argues Stefanie Hundsdorfer. […]
The factory farm system used by global agribusiness firms is a major source of the greenhouse gas methane. Ben Lilliston and Shefali Sharma of the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) highlight that the push for appropriate regulation of factory farms’ methane emissions in the U.S. should coincide with EU efforts to regulate these emissions. […]
A newly published paper seeks to reposition legumes as protagonists in policy debates and encourage us to identify policies that would better support the transformation of European food- and feed-systems to a new norm, with greatly increased production and consumption of homegrown legumes and homegrown legume-based products. A savoury account of legume policy by lead author Bálint Balázs. […]
It is time to rediscover the roots of our resilience by grounding land policy in collective action and democratic forms of land politics. That’s according to a new report led by Transnational Institute. This position is based on an understanding of land not as a commodity but as a common resource, a living territory and a natural landscape. […]
Ireland’s current agri-food strategy places environmental protection and economic competitiveness on an equal footing. But can ambitions for growth be squared with the state’s duty to protect the environment? In the first of a two-part series, Alison Brogan investigates the realities of sustainable growth on the Emerald Isle. […]
Can sustainable growth really allow biodiversity to thrive? In the second of a two-part series, Alison Brogan investigates the impact of Ireland’s ambitious agri-food strategy on protected grassland habitats. […]
Bulgaria has lost around 40% of its High Nature Value farmlands since 2007. Rather than having an in-depth analysis of the reasons behind this negative trend, the Ministry of Agriculture proposed deletion of all existing support in breach of the ‘no backsliding principle’ for the CAP Strategic plans. […]
There are “strong links between politics and the biggest beneficiaries of the subsidies” in five Central and East European member states of the EU. That’s according to a new in-depth study “Where does the money go”, which examines the implementation of the EU agriculture funds in Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania and the Czech Republic. The study, which was commissioned by the Greens/EFA political group in the European Parliament, sheds a stark light on how the CAP is not only funding degradation of biodiversity but also degrading democracy. Hans van Scharen reports. […]
Our weekly Twitter round up of great content from our kindred network: a Friday treat for your weekend reading pleasure. Enjoy what we’ve found for you on twitter. […]
“Integration between the CAP reform and the European Green Deal is poor or unrealised.” That’s according to a new policy analysis, written by ARC2020’s analyst Matteo Metta and Agricultural Economist Dr. Sebastian Lakner. Commissioned by MEP Martin Hausling (Greens/EFA) this timely report pours cold water over many of the claims for improved environmental performance in the emerging CAP, which is currently in trilogues. A number of CAP solutions are proposed. […]
What are the options for co-legislators and the Commission in the ongoing trilogue negotiations? How far are they from the European Green Deal? And what can member states do in their CAP Strategic Plans to align with Green Deal objectives? A new report sheds some light on these crucial questions. Report by ARC Policy Analyst Matteo Metta and Sebastian Lakner, commissioned by MEP Martin Hausling, it launches tomorrow. […]
How can we learn from Covid-19 to make our food systems work better? Broadly, there are two strands, argue Stephen Leitheiser and Lummina Horlings. One, an eco-modernist tech utopianism, which sees an increased use of digital and technological tools which will increase the power of corporations. The other is a food commons approach. This values-based approach needs to be nourished by more holistic, decentralised policy making for a truly resilient response to current and future crises. […]
Agricultural and Rural Convention