-
On 4 December, EU negotiators reached an agreement to deregulate plants engineered with new genomic techniques. In this op-ed, Franziska Achterberg of Save Our Seeds argues that the deal dismantles key elements of EU GMO law for a broad category of genetically modified plants rebranded as “conventional-like” and granted patent rights. While the agreement still awaits final approval, Achterberg sets out why it should be rejected. […] -
In the final episode of Fields of Power, we step back from the land grabbing cases we’ve traced across Hungary and ask a deeper question: what does land have to do with democracy? Fields of Power is a four-part podcast series is created by Ian M. Cook, Péter József Bori and Noémi Gonda. […] -
Three years on from Russia’s invasion, Ukrainian farmers are still struggling to navigate the lasting legacy of the occupation in Europe’s breadbasket. With the relationship between the EU and the war-torn country set to deepen in the coming years, Ukrainian journalist Anna Romandash takes a deep dive on the current state of affairs on the ground and how to step forward beyond symbolic solidarity and into concrete support. […] -
In episode 3 of the “Fields of Power” podcast series, we head out onto Hungary’s great plains in search of people living through the country’s land battles. What we find is a landscape marked not just by farmers without land, but by fear. By Ian M. Cook, Péter József Bori and Noémi Gonda. […] -
EU lawmakers have been locked in intense negotiations for months on loosening rules on the use of new genetic technologies in plant breeding. But talks are stalling on one particularly sticky issue. So why have patents become so central in this story, and what would it mean for farmers and breeders if lawmakers get their way on permitting patents? Natasha Foote digs in. […] -
Here is episode 2! “The Land Grab Chronicles” moves from the aisles of a Hungarian supermarket into the hidden machinery of a political-economic system where land, food, and power are tightly intertwined. “Fields of Power” is a four-part podcast series is created by Ian M. Cook, Péter József Bori and Noémi Gonda. […] -
“Fields of Power” is a serial podcast that tells the story of how control over land in Hungary became a crucial terrain for consolidating Prime Minister Orbán’s regime’s authoritarian grip on power. At the heart of “Fields of Power” is a central question: how does land ownership shape democracy? Or even more urgently: how does the loss of land ownership by farmers help fuel the rise of illiberal, right-wing and authoritarian politics? Here is “Of Farms & Fortune”, the first in a four-part series created by Ian M. Cook, Péter József Bori and Noémi Gonda. […]
