Month: January 2015

Latest from EU Member States

“Peasant” is not a bad word … but what does it mean?!

January 29, 2015 ARC

Written By:  Derek Freitas, Food Chains Campaign Coordinator for Eco Ruralis   General Context The word “peasant” is used in all sorts of ways to mean different things by many groups of people across the world. It is indeed very hard to define. This is particularly problematic due to the fact that the majority of decision-makers related to establishing agricultural policy at the national, EU and global levels don’t have an accepted reference point for understanding one another in a basic sense. Often, the only time when self-ascribed “peasants” feel that they are accurately portrayed is when they explain what that word means to them. But, again, even they disagree based on cultural, historical, geographical and individual differences.   Global Context The international peasant movement, La Via Campesina, calls for an International Convention on the Rights of Peasants and states the following in Article I of its own “Declaration on the Rights of Peasants – Women and Men”: “A peasant is a man or woman of the land, who has a direct and special relationship […]

Recent updates

–Good Food – Good Farming Conference 2015

January 22, 2015 Benedikt Haerlin

Civil Society and grassroots gathering in Brussels 10th – 11th February 2015 Register here. Follow the event live on twitter and facebook. The Agricultural and Rural Convention 2020 (ARC2020), Friends of the Earth Europe and IFOAM EU invite you to a civil society gathering and conference on February 10th and 11th 2015 in Brussels, hosted by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC). This event brings together representatives from civil society, grassroots groups, researchers, national and regional authorities and policymakers to: 1. Assess the implementation of the reformed Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) 2014-2020 and its prospects of agricultural sustainability and of rural renaissance. 2. Identify milestones to support transition of food and agriculture systems based on agroecological approaches. You are invited to participate in the development of a Civil Society roadmap towards good food, good farming and a living countryside! Now is the time for the good food – goods farming movement in Europe to assess where we are, to develop a vision for where we want to be in 2020 and agree on a strategic roadmap how to […]