October 2021 - Agricultural and Rural Convention

Farm to Fork Strategy: Ambitious, Realistic Innovation Pathway for the European food System

October 19, 2021 ARC

Since the release of the Farm to Fork strategy, the Commission has faced a considerable amount of criticism, which generally cites the potential economic and food security impacts of F2F. Here IDDRI experts analyse the methodological limitations underlying this criticism and shows that a more systemic approach instead reinforce the relevance, coherence and realism of the Commission’s strategy. […]

Farming Bounded By Our Biological Boundaries – Part 3

October 18, 2021 Stuart Meikle

It’s tempting to blame burping cows for methane emissions. But while nature cannot distinguish between naturally occurring methane and methane derived from fossil fuels and anthropological activity, humans can – and should. Methane has a role to play in sustainable farming. We cannot let the debate around methane emissions cloud the broader benefits of farming with ruminants, argues Stuart Meikle in part three of this series. […]

Letter From The Farm | Winterage In The Burren

October 15, 2021 Shane Casey

We’re back on Shane Casey’s farm in the Burren, Ireland. It’s nearly time for the reverse transhumance drive – or ‘winterage’ as it’s known locally. Grazing over the winter allows the Burren’s unique mix of flora to thrive. It’s a quintessential example of farming for conservation, explains Shane. […]

Tweets of the Week – 41/2021

October 14, 2021 ARC

Our weekly Twitter round up of great content from our kindred network: a Friday treat for your weekend reading pleasure. Enjoy what we’ve found for you on twitter. […]

Choosing Good Food should not be this Complicated – a Vision for Improving EU Food Environments

October 13, 2021 ARC

The EU’s Farm to Fork Strategy won’t be realised unless policy goes beyond voluntary measures to gear food environments to promote truly sustainable diets. Participants in the EU Food Policy Coalition share their vision for improving food environments. Op-ed by Frank Mechielsen from Feedback Global and Madeleine Coste from Slow Food Europe. […]

Should Agricultural Subsidies Go To Labour Not Land? | New Report

October 12, 2021 ARC

‘Should agricultural subsidies go to labour not land?’ This question was up for discussion at a meeting hosted by ARC2020 in Summer 2021. Area based payments are absolutely central to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) yet they have a range of negative impacts and act as a barrier to progressive change. […]

Evènement | Face aux problématiques urgentes, aller vite mais pas trop vite

October 11, 2021 Louise Kelleher

Samedi le 18 septembre 2021, l’association ARC2020 est allée à la rencontre du GAEC de La Ferme des 7 chemins, une des initiatives campagnardes engagée dans le projet « Nos campagnes en résilience ». Situé sur la commune de PLESSE en Loire Atlantique, le GAEC a initié une rencontre entre différents partenaires afin d’échanger et de se questionner sur le développement de la ferme. On vous propose à travers cet article de découvrir ce temps fort au sein d’une initiative campagnarde rayonnante. […]

France | Rural Resilience – All In Good Time

October 11, 2021 Louise Kelleher

What happens when a farm invites the wider community to collectively tease out its future? In September ARC2020 visited Brittany to find out. Seed savers, farm workers and chefs sat down with elected officials and representatives of regional organisations to share insights and listen to each other’s experiences. Louise Kelleher reports. […]

Italian CAP Plan in Progress: too Little, too Late?

October 8, 2021 Matteo Metta

On 11-12 October 2021, the agri-ministers from all over the EU will be invited to share their views on design and approval of the CAP Strategic Plan, with emphasis on transparency and inclusion. With no sense of irony, this meeting will be held behind closed doors. […]

Romania | Making Hay In Transylvania

October 8, 2021 Paul White

In Transylvania’s hay meadows people continue to farm in harmony with nature. Determined to capture the traditional skill of scything on camera, photographer Paul White found out he would have to get up very early in the morning. Here he documents the hard work involved in a traditional haymaking process that is clean, sustainable and yields enormous benefits for biodiversity. Photo essay by Paul White. […]

Tweets of the Week – 40/2021

October 8, 2021 ARC

Our weekly Twitter round up of great content from our kindred network: a Friday treat for your weekend reading pleasure. Enjoy what we’ve found for you on twitter. […]

The EU finally has the makings of a sustainable food policy – why is it under attack?

October 7, 2021 ARC

The Farm to Fork strategy is having an impact – and the forces of business-as-usual aren’t happy. Here Camille Perrin (BEUC), Nick Jacobs (IPES-Food) and Nina Holland (CEO) express their concerns about studies and corporate-led events “based on models which are ill-suited to evaluating the impacts of transforming our food systems.” Further, the authors point to how inappropriate these studies and events are when assessing the Farm to Fork Strategy itself. […]

Seeds For Hope On Pellworm Island

October 5, 2021 ARC

Seeds for hope were sown this summer at the Seeds4all seminar, when cereal farmers and breeders from several countries gathered on the island of Pellworm in July to discuss the future of local organic seed production. Off the German coast in the North Sea, Pellworm faces its own challenges as an island below sea level. In this weirdly rainy and burning summer, it was a fitting location for talk of sustainability and resilience. Report by Seeds4all. […]

Slashing Space for Nature? Ireland Backsliding on CAP basics

October 5, 2021 Oliver Moore

Cutting space for nature on farms, from its own proposed level of 5% to just 4%, is the most brutal of adjustments mooted by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) in one of the final CAP consultations last Thursday. A list of five for the most part unambitious eco-schemes has also been announced, which will do little to move Irish agriculture towards a more environmentally sustainable place. […]

Ireland’s Our Rural Future – a rural digitisation gold standard?

October 4, 2021 Oliver Moore

Broadband for all, even in the most remote regions; smart, revitalised villages and towns with hundreds of remote working hubs; a rural youth assembly, significant numbers of public and private workers for rural areas; Local Digital Strategies in administrative regions; and all done in a well-planned way to optimize synergies and transition towards carbon neutrality – it sound like a sustainable rural digitalisation dream. So is it? […]