- What? Demonstration/tractor procession against industrial farming
- Where? Berlin, Germany
- When? Saturday 19.01.2013
- Time? 11am March sets off from Berlin Main Station (Hauptbahnhof), 12pm Demonstration in front of Kanzleramt (Merkel HQ)
On 19th January 2013, a huge demonstration against industrial agriculture (Wir haben es satt – We’ve had enough) will take place in Berlin! Coinciding with International Green Week which sees all EU agricultural ministers and Commissioner Ciolos come together in the city, and just days before COMAGRI will hold their final vote on the CAP reform, the demonstration couldn’t come at a more crucial time.
Last year, over well over the 23,000 people attended the event. With the CAP debate hotting up across Europe, it hoped that 2013 will be a truely international event. The new EU-wide strong network from the Good Food March provides an opportunity to mobilise across the EU.
The Call for Action
The outlook for our food and farming is bleak. Over the past 50 years, EU taxes have been used to support industrialized production. This form of agricultural is threatening the existence of our farmers in the global North and South. It is creating excessivefood waste on the one hand and global food insecurity on the other: a situation now being worsened by increasing food speculation. The overuse of chemical fertilizers and harmful pesticides is harming the environment, destroying biodiversity and threatening bee populations worldwide. Factory farms are also disregarding animal welfare, aggravating climate change and leading to the abandonment of rural areas. The continued European reliance on soy imports and the growing trend of land grabbing is devastating farming communities worldwide. It is time for change.
The policies responsible for all this are currently being reformed. In 2013 the direction of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for the next 7 years will be finalized. Responsible for over 40% of the total EU budget, policymakers are currently deciding how to distribute the 60 billion Euros available each year. Whether small family farms will benefit, or whether the majority of the money will continue to subsidize large industries remains to be seen. These decisions will be made as the international community debates how to combat world hunger and ensure the right to food for all.
In January 2013, agricultural ministers from all EU Member States will gather in Berlin for the International Green Week. They will be joined by EU Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Cioloş. This provides a perfect opportunity for European citizens to come together to show policy makers responsible for the future of EU food and farming policy, not to mention German Chancellor Angela Merkel, that we demand change for better! We are calling on all those who want to see a green and fair reform of the CAP to come to Berlin to join an international demonstration. The demonstration will take place on January 19th, just days before the EU Parliament’s Agriculture Committee will hold their final vote on CAP reform, and the final stages of negotiations in Brussels begin.
The EU’s Common Agricultural Policy affects everyone. Whoever you are – farmer, consumer, chef, activist, parent – we must stand up for what we all care about: Good Food and Good Farming.
Let’s have a CAP that:
- Delivers secure and stable cost covering prices for farmers and fair prices for consumers.
- Values our natural, cultural and culinary heritage.
- Supports real family farms; both young and old. We can’t lose anymore farmers!
- Links subsidies directly to social, environment, and animal welfare criteria. Public money for public goods!
- Takes us to a greener and more sustainable agriculture, and promotes agro-ecological farming methods.
- Strengthens the social and economic development of rural communities.
- Guarantees the cultivation of local protein feed crops, rather than imported soy.
- Ensures greater equity between old and new EU Member States.
- Moves us towards food sovereignty.
- Assumes international responsibility and ensures that Europe and the global South become more self-sufficient.
- Rejects food speculation and ends the export of agricultural products at a price below their production cost.
