January 2018 - Agricultural and Rural Convention

A Nitrogen Tax for Agriculture?

January 30, 2018 Stuart Meikle

After the recent suggestion that there should be a tax levied on GHG emissions from agriculture, will a proposal to tax nitrogen fertilizers be next? Stuart Miekle outlines the pros and cons. […]

Part 3 | “Pour une autre PAC wants” another deal between farmers and society

January 29, 2018 Aurélie Catallo

What should CAP focus on – and how radical a change is needed in how the EU’s farming and food policy works? The platform Pour une autre PAC (For Another Common Agricultural Policy) is a French inter-association body created for a common reflection and action in view of the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. […]

Meet Senator Joel Labbé – Driving Force Behind French Herbicide Bans

January 28, 2018 ARC

Public places in France – schools, parks, forests, roadsides – are no longer treated with herbicides, while more restrictions are coming in in 2019. Senator Joel Labbé has been the driving force behind these restrictions. ARC2020 has worked with Labbé to help bring his work to the European stage. […]

Part 2 | “Pour une autre PAC” on France’s CAP Position

January 25, 2018 Aurélie Catallo

The platform Pour une autre PAC (For Another Common Agricultural Policy) is a French inter-association body created for a common reflection and action on CAP reform. This article explains and critiques the French Agricultural Minister’s position on CAP. […]

Food is Political! 33,000 Are Fed Up With Agri-Industry!

January 20, 2018 ARC

33,000 citizens – including 160 tractor driving farmers – made their way through the winter streets of Berlin on Saturday to tell the world – food is political! #EssenIstPolitisch […]

Part 1 “Pour une autre PAC” – the French CAP Platform

January 17, 2018 Aurélie Catallo

The platform Pour une autre PAC (For Another Common Agricultural Policy) is a French inter-association body created for a common reflection and action regarding the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy. In this exclusive for ARC2020, platform coordinator Auréile Catallo introduces its history, its composition and its functioning. […]

Digital Revolution in Agriculture: Fitting for Agroecology?

January 15, 2018 ARC

There is lots of hype about digitisation in farming. There are important questions too, about ownership and power. What role for agroecology and the commons in this context? Vassilis Gkisakis and colleagues explored this topic at the Agroecology Europe forum in October. Here they outline their discussions. […]

Agroecology | A Tale of Two Continents

January 15, 2018 Carmen Schwartz

Agroecology is commonly understood as a science, a movement, and a practice, jointly transforming agroecosystems to less fossil fuel dependent, more autonomous and more resilient farming systems. Agroecologic practices and research have evolved and are being applied around the globe. What unites these movements, what separates them? How is it different in Europe compared to Latin America? Is there a universal approach to agroecology? […]

Does the Gove fit? Radical Shake up for UK Farming & Food after CAP & Brexit?

January 12, 2018 Aron Marshall

UK Ag minister Micheal Gove has claimed Brexit is a golden opportunity to create an independent, public goods focused national agri-food policy. This policy position has been praised by many, from environmentalists to the NFU. However, is he speaking with a forked tongue? And if not, then what might this potentially radical rupture signal for the EU and CAP? […]

Meet Olga Alcaraz | Gender Equality in Mexican Agroecology

January 10, 2018 Karen Hansen-Kuhn

Agroecology is about more than just affordable, ecological techniques – meet Olga Alcaraz, one of the women leading the movement forward. […]

EU | Fertilizers, Permanent Grasslands and EFAs – Brussels Briefing

January 8, 2018 ARC

From 1st January, a series of changes in the Common Agriculture Policy have been in effect. Agreed on 12th December, the so-called Omnibus was entered into the official EU record on 29th December. These changes are variously described as simplifications or improvements. But are they? […]

UK | The Yorkshire Dales – How Changing CAP legislation Impacts People and Place

January 7, 2018 ARC

The Yorkshire Dales is an upland area of Yorkshire, Northern England. Agriculture has been an integral part of the area’s culture and economy for thousands of years. A hill farm agricultural system is upheld here, with sheep as the primary livestock, although many have diversified into mixed beef systems, and dairy operations in the lower valleys. How has CAP – and its changes over time – impacted on this place and its people? […]