2026 - Agricultural and Rural Convention

Hungary | Hands on the Land to Grow Alternatives for Humanity

July 10, 2026 Zsámboki Biokert

Welcome back to Zsámboki Biokert, a market garden and alternative learning space, located close to Budapest. Young trainees flock here to learn how to work with nature and grow nutrient dense food. This knowledge-sharing is part of a broader strategy of resilience – for young people in pursuit of meaningful lifestyles grounded in wellbeing, but also for the farm team and wider community. When overwhelmed by the scale of the challenges, collective advocacy for agroecology can be a coping technique. A letter from the farm by Logan Strenchock. […]

Sustainable farming isn’t a threat to food security. It might be the only thing that saves it.

July 9, 2026 Andrea Beste

The real threat to your dinner isn’t organic farming – it’s climate change (and the agroindustry lobby). In this op-ed Dr Andrea Beste calls for an approach to food security based on scientific facts and systemic sustainability. […]

From Bessarabia to Brussels? Ukraine’s New AKIS Network to Connect Farmers with Knowledge

July 9, 2026 Anna Romandash

Designed to bring the fruits of research, innovation and experimentation within reach of those who need it – farmers and rural actors – the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation System (AKIS) is a powerful tool for climate adaptation and post-war recovery, and can support the process of European standards taking root. Anna Romandash reports from Ukraine. […]

In Search of Untasted Flavours

July 8, 2026 Adèle Pautrat

Native to East Asia, the Goumi tree (Elaeagnus multiflora) is a rare find in Europe, which is a surprise considering its long list of desirable traits. Hardy and robust, the shrub requires almost no maintenance. It thrives in poor soil, which it helps enrich thanks to the nitrogen-fixing nodules on its roots. With pale green foliage, it produces fragrant white flowers, and small, glossy red fruits that look like candied berries. In a happy coincidence, not only did I discover that June is the perfect moment to taste the Goumi, but that there is actually someone growing them just a short train ride from Brussels, where I live. By Adèle Pautrat. […]

Ireland Takes the EU Wheel: CAP Cash, Livestock Matters and Securing What Exactly?

June 30, 2026 Oliver Moore

From July 1, Ireland’s EU Presidency promises to put food security, farming and fisheries centre-stage. But will it use its moment to build a fairer food system – or simply defend the descent into a burning planet? Oliver Moore reports from Ireland. […]

Leaked Livestock Strategy Bets on Technofixes & Pulls From Industry Playbook

June 25, 2026 Natasha Foote

You can have your cake and eat it too, according to a leaked version of the EU’s upcoming livestock strategy, which leans on technofixes to address our biggest environmental and climate challenges while shying away from some of the meatier questions on reduction of livestock numbers. ARC2020’s Natasha Foote breaks down the key takeaways from the draft. […]

The EU just opened its doors to new GMOs – but you won’t know if they’re on your plate

June 18, 2026 Natasha Foote

After years of intense lobbying, negotiation, and semantic gymnastics, it’s official. Europe is set to open its farm gates and plates to new genetic technologies, without the guardrails of labelling, monitoring, or liability. Natasha Foote breaks down exactly what this means and what’s next. […]

A sad day for democracy and science

June 18, 2026 Benedikt Haerlin

Yesterday the European Parliament voted to open farm gates – and by extension, our plates – to New Genetic Technologies (NGTs). This is a seismic development that reveals cracks in the EU’s democratic institutions. How now to defend our rights as consumers to choose what we eat? Comment by ARC2020 board member Benny Haerlin. […]

What happens when our seeds go silent?

June 16, 2026 Natasha Foote

As EU lawmakers prepare to rewrite rules governing the production, exchange and sale of seeds, two opposing worlds collide. In one, seeds are intellectual property, carefully regulated and protected as engines of innovation. In the other, they are living commons, saved, exchanged and adapted by farmers across generations. To dig into the seedy underbelly of the agrifood world, ARC2020’s Natasha Foote travelled between two major seed gatherings held just days (but worlds) apart, each offering a radically different vision of the future. […]

The EU’s PFAS Pesticide Blind Spot

June 10, 2026 Natasha Foote

The PFAS panic has seen us eye everything from non-stick pans to takeaway packaging with suspicion. But what if one of the most direct routes of exposure to these ‘forever chemicals’ is not in the kitchen cupboard, but on our plates? Here ARC2020’s Natasha Foote lifts the lid on PFAS pesticides and how new pesticide plans in the EU’s regulatory pipeline could open doors to ‘forever chemicals’ that can’t be closed. […]

A Revolution in Europe’s Public Plate? The future of food policy is delicious

June 1, 2026 Ashley Parsons

What would you do with €2.5 trillion? This is the amount the EU spends every year on public procurement. With the rules that shape this spending up for revision, there is a multi-trillion euro opportunity to serve better food in schools, hospitals, prisons and care homes – while simultaneously supporting farmers and nourishing local economies. Ashley Parsons reports. […]

Germany | Legal win for a collective land purchase makes a couple’s farming dream come true

May 29, 2026 ARC

What began as a small French-fries stand and a desire to grow their own potatoes brought two young farmers into the heart of one of Europe’s most pressing agricultural challenges: access to land. Since founding their organic farm near Münster, David Büchler and Sarah Hoffmann have followed a path familiar to many new entrants, marked by long searches and uncertain opportunities. But a collective purchase model made long-term security possible, after a legal case that finally culminated in a win. By Christine Etienne. […]

Investing in the Next Generation – When local politics takes on the school canteen

May 22, 2026 Louise Kelleher

It takes a village to raise a child. What happens when a village makes the choice to help feed its children? What are the steps to ensure good local food on plates and in bellies? How can local authorities take action beyond national or EU policies? We visited the school canteen in Plessé, France, to find out. Louise Kelleher reports. […]

What’s Food Sovereignty got to do with it? The New Geopolitics of Food

May 14, 2026 Oliver Moore

Resilient, self-reliant food systems. This is what a major new IPES-Food report puts forward as a way to deal with food price volatility driven by increasing geopolitical tensions. We recognise here many of the ingredients for Rural Resilience that we have identified in our project, including fair livelihoods for farmers and access to food for all. It’s a new and very ‘now’ pathway for governments to advance a food sovereignty approach. Oliver Moore digs in. […]

Sitting with our contradictions – Learning to reconnect with nature and find peace as humans

May 7, 2026 Louise Kelleher

A farm can be a place for the kind of learning that’s hard to find in educational institutions. Combining her work in both farming and networking with Education for Sustainable Development, Ann Marie Weber explores how collaboration among regional actors and transformative learning processes can drive structural change toward sustainable food systems. She runs a small farm near Marburg (Hesse, Germany), where she grows vegetables to make hot sauce, chutneys and other preserves – not for market, but to help create a space for people to connect with their own agency, food and nature. In conversation with Louise Kelleher. […]