The CAP is often portrayed as an instrument for supporting small European farmers, but this is highly misleading. When one adds the costs of livestock production and consumption for the climate, the environment and people’s health, and thus for society and the economy at large, the current European agricultural policy makes no economic sense. While the production of dairy and feed for animals are less dependent on public money, many of these farms are also on permanent life support. According to Commission data, up to 90% of cattle farmers’ income comes from subsidies. Since the EU uses public money to support the agricultural sector, the aim should be to make the sector both more competitive and resilient, and to increase people’s welfare while also protecting the planet.Ĭurrently, taxpayers’ money is used to support farming practices that are neither competitive nor economically viable, for the producers or for society. As the Union’s immediate priority is to recover from the corona crisis, its leaders must act responsibly. It also suggests providing an additional €15 billion for farmers and rural areas under the new recovery instrument, Next Generation EU. In its new proposal for the 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), presented on, the Commission proposes spending over €348 billion on agriculture. The strategy’s biggest weakness is its failure to spell out an inconvenient truth: the EU’s problem is its excessive livestock production and over-consumption of meat and dairy, which come at an enormous cost. It stresses the importance of global action. It cherishes the potential and prospects of organic farming. It pushes to reduce pesticide use and excess fertilisation. It recognises the importance of carbon sequestration. It calls for improving the food chain’s environmental impact, providing access to sufficient, healthy, nutritious, and sustainable food, as well as generating fairer economic returns. The Farm to Fork strategy gets a lot of things right. While changes will not happen overnight, the Union needs a system that benefits farmers and citizens society and the economy as a whole. While the EU takes great pride in its agriculture, its Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) – with a focus on production – has failed to deliver a sustainable food system. As food is grown, stored, processed, packaged, transported, prepared, served, eaten – or not eaten but thrown away –, this impacts climate and the environment. When certain food production or patterns of consumption are subsidised, this public money is taken away from other priorities. The food we produce and consume has economic, societal and environmental ramifications, in the EU and beyond. The European Commission’s Farm to Fork strategy, published on, is a long-awaited effort to address this inherently inconsistent approach. The European Union (EU) has, for decades, supported the development of a food system that is bad for the economy, society, the climate, the environment, and people’s health. While it ticks many boxes, the Farm to Fork strategy does not go far enough in describing and addressing one of the most pressing economic, societal and environmental challenges of the EU: the production and over-consumption of meat and dairy.
0 kommentar(er)
