In these challenging times ‘food security’ has returned to the agenda in what was assumed to be the well-fed countries of the World. That includes in Ireland, even though it is ranked first in the Economist’s Global Food Security Index. To inform this debate ARC2020 will present an article series – an extended op-ed – from Stuart Meikle. […]
Crop rotations and space for nature are again under threat, as pressure mounts on basic conditionality in the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Under the pretext of the impact of the War in Ukraine, it has emerged that the European Commission and 16 member states are prepared to allow such exemptions from the basic environmental standards to be continued for beyond the initial 12 months proposed. […]
As decision-makers consider the future of pesticide regulation in the EU, Good Food Good Farming is running a citizen science project inviting citizens to do a “Pesticide Check-up” by getting their hair tested for pesticides. The project is open to participation until June 30. […]
To celebrate the forthcoming launch of the new ARC2020 and Forum Synergies book “Rural Europe Takes Action – No more business as usual” we’re sharing extracts of the policy actions it calls for and the stories that underscore the importance of such action. Today we have the story of the Free Bakers Association (Die Freien Bäcker), an independent professional organisation of artisan bakers and confectioners founded in Hanover, Germany in 2011. […]
In a roundup of recent news, Ashley Parsons find that words and personnel can change, but business-as-usual can keep replying on the institutions to bail them out – no strings attached. Whatever the level of exposure and risk, whatever the talk of transitioning away from dependencies on agri-industrial inputs, money, it seems, will always be found for keeping the show on the road, whatever the crises. […]
Last week, French students at Agro Paris Tech – France’s most prestigious agro-engineering school – staged a “call to desert” during their graduation speech. To desert? Yes, to desert the environmentally destructive engineering positions the university sets them up for after graduation. But these inspiring words and actions of these young people don’t match up to the government’s actions, nor the school’s response. A recap and analysis by Ashley Parsons. […]
With war in Ukraine, the EU institutions made a concerted effort to shore up its highly exposed agri-industrial food system this week. Emergency money and ecologically protected lands are to be used for food security – as expressed through animal feed and mineral fertilizer supply. Along the way, delays and derailings to greener transition have occurred in pesticides regulation, in environmental elements of CAP, and more. So is the EU Green Deal becoming pie in the sky? Oliver Moore and Ashley Parsons report. […]
The agri-food system is very exposed – and was even before the war in Ukraine and its implications. Nitrogen fertilizer has been the bedrock of how farming happens, and its availability has led to a very specific type of food production to flourish. Decisions must be made – about feeding people, about feeding pigs, about how a grass-based system can really function sustainably. Op-Ed from Stuart Meikle. […]
The Soup & Talk 2022 good food and good farming slam is happening via Zoom on Saturday, January 22nd from 17:00 to 20:00 CET. The much-loved Soup and Talk event traditionally takes place at the Heinrich-Böll-Foundation, Berlin, with inspiring agri-food initiatives and hot soup welcoming hundreds of freezing demonstrators in out of the cold after Europe’s biggest protest for a better food system. […]
What is the scale and impact of pesticides in agri-food? Where is power expressed, and what are the costs associated with the use of these agri-industrial inputs? A new concept note and policy brief throws some light on the topic. Op-Ed by Le BASIC – Christophe Alliot, Sylvain Ly CCFD-Terre Solidaire – Maureen Jorand Pollinis – Nicolas Larmaan PAN-Europe – Martin Dermine and CEO – Hans Vanscharen. […]
To mark the publication of the Meat Atlas 2021, we are republishing a selection of our favourite articles. In this one, Peter Birke brings attention to poor labour conditions in the global meat industry. The pandemic has put a spotlight on this issue, but it is by no means new. EU food trade unions call for a bloc-wide response. […]
To mark the publication of the Meat Atlas 2021, we will republish a selection of our favourite articles. Here, Lisa Tostado introduces the Atlas, with a big picture take on changes in meat production and consumption in recent decades. The MEAT ATLAS 2021 is jointly published by Heinrich Böll Stiftung, Berlin, Germany Friends of the Earth Europe, Brussels, Belgium Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz, Berlin, Germany. […]
The European Court of Auditors (ECA) most recent relevant report on CAP and climate outlines a host of serious issues and a under performances by the policy, while also making some suggestions for big, achievable climate wins. However, we in ARC2020 were a little taken aback by how the paper treated organic farming – funded as it is under CAP – and its climate impact. […]
The intensive poultry industry in the UK has expanded in recent decades, becoming more akin to the USA’s mega farms. Investigating how intensive poultry units have multiplied across certain parts of the UK, Alison Caffyn discovered that the poultry industry has taken advantage of weak regulatory and planning regimes to scale up the lucrative business. […]
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. […]
Agricultural and Rural Convention