Latest from EU Member States

Sustainable Food Systems – Taking Action on the Ground in Germany

ARC is proud to be part of the European Action Gathering for Sustainable Food Systems, to be held in Marburg, Germany in early November. This is because, while there is a somewhat stagnant process at EU and member state levels, throughout Europe there is action on the ground, with communities coming together to improve access to healthy, affordable and ecologically produced food. Find out more about our Marburg gathering. […]

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Adapting Agricultural Practices to Climate Change – Seeds, Beans and Lessons from the Ground Up

On July 5th 2023, the European Commission tabled its proposal for revised seed marketing legislation. Exploring institutional shortcomings to prioritise and safeguard agrobiodiversity in a changing climate, Seeds4All project co-ordinator Adèle Pautrat and policy analyst Mathieu Willard zoom into the case of white bean production in southern France, before presenting broader issues that the future seed law should address. […]

Latest from Brussels

EU Seed Law Reform and New Genetic Engineering – Double Attack on our Seeds

July 5 2023, ARCHE NOAH today released a statement in response to the EU Commission’s proposals for revised seed marketing legislation and the deregulation of “new genomic techniques”. Seeds4All
supports the statement, which raises the alarm about the threat these proposals present to the future of genetic diversity in Europe and calls on agriculture ministers and MEPs to protect farmers, consumers and biodiversity. […]

Latest from EU Member States

Good Food Good Farming | People Across Europe Demand Better Food Systems!

As the European Commission is expected to publish a proposal for a Sustainable Food Systems Law in the autumn, Good Food Good Farming launched Food for Talk: days of dialogue that highlight the voices of farmers, fishers, activists and citizens. In a participatory video, the movement now calls for #GoodFood4EU through an ambitious law proposal. Report by Good Food Good Farming. […]

Latest from EU Member States

France | Cultivating Food Justice – It Takes A Village

Au Maquis is a food justice non-profit based in the small Provençal village of Lauris. Under the shade of a cabana, we sat down with Fanny and Maud who run the farm. The association has a total of eight staff and 1,800 members, including over 100 volunteers, who come together to grow and eat, to build community and to hold space. It takes a village to cultivate food justice. […]

Latest from EU Member States

Reconnect With Beans – Take Our Food Power Back

If we all agree to take back the power over our food, what do we need? Helping to frame the discussion at the Global Bean Seed Festival, Xavier Hamon, artisan cook and partner of the Rural Resilience project, encourages us to re-cultivate hundreds of varieties of grains and pulses, take back land, win political mandates, and most of all, support those who work for the living world, day after day. Words : Xavier Hamon. […]

Latest from Brussels

Are NGTs the Cure to our Pesticide Addiction?

In its inception impact assessment for the deregulation of GMOs, the Commission argues that plants produced through New Genomic Techniques would contribute to sustainability goals outlined in the European Green Deal’s Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategies. One of the main goals of the Farm to Fork Strategy is to reduce the use of pesticides by 50% by 2030. […]

Latest from Brussels

Sustainable Food Systems Law – EU Food Policy Coalition’s Recommendations for a Meaningful Transition

 As the European Commission prepares for the launch of its proposal on the Sustainable Food Systems (SFS) Legislative Framework in late September, the EU Food Policy Coalition has published a joint report laying out clear policy recommendations for the SFS Law to ensure a meaningful transition to sustainable food systems across the European Union. Summary and report to download here. […]

Latest from Brussels

GMO Deregulation Delayed – Where Are We At, Where Might We Be Going?

The European Commission’s legislative proposal for the deregulation of new GMOs – or new genomic techniques as they are also known – is to be delayed from June 7th 2023 until at least the latter half of that month. Mathieu Willard contextualises recent events surrounding the controversial proposal with an overview of the current GMO regulatory framework and the possible policy options hinted at in an impact assessment leaked by AGRA FACTS.  […]

Latest from EU Member States

Feeding Ourselves 2023 – Diversified Diversification in Action

It’s good to be specific. It’s also good to be diverse. To be mixed and sometimes messy, to embed in a multiverse, a pluriverse, of things and people, of places and actions, of enabling infrastructure and strategic purpose. When it comes to making vibrant rural spaces, within our social and planetary boundaries, while living well, together…there’s a lot to be said for diversity – in its many, myriad forms. Welcome to Feeding Ourselves 2023 – a diversity love story. Words by Oliver Moore.  […]

Latest from EU Member States

Feeding Ourselves 2023 | Fertile Ground for System Change

Another rural is possible! ARC2020 and friends were in Cloughjordan Ecovillage, Ireland on March 25-26 for the annual Feeding Ourselves gathering, which takes food and farming as an entry point for moving towards fairer, more caring communities. What are the ingredients to cook up transformative system change? How can we build bridges between islands of practice? Why do we need to keep talking about gender? Louise Kelleher gives us a taste of conversations and connections at Feeding Ourselves 2023. […]