Arc2020 & Friends of the Earth Europe new CAP agroecology video

As part of our joint Agroecology project, Arc2020 and Friends of the Earth Europe have made a new RSA-style animation. This introduces and overviews our thoughts on how farming and food is done, and how it could be done. Specifically it focuses on the CAP and the small positives therein. These positives signpost what a future EU agri-food policy might look like.

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Our video points out that EU agri-food policy may no longer be fit for purpose, after decades of ever-more industrial farming, of monocultures, pesticides and factory farming.

 However Agroecology has emerged as a positive, a more holistic approach to farming and food.  This is especially the case if a range of actors work together in agroecological communities of practice. This is social learning where farmers, farming advisory services, local policy makers, food activists, rural networkers, scientists, conservation groups, local development companies and more work together. There are options and opportunities emerging to develop  Good Communities of Practice – good CoPs in the CAP, but they need to be activated.

Good CoPs can be expressed through:

  • Forming producer groups
  • Participative work on seed breeding, soil, rotations, and advisory services
  • Shorter regional supply chains
  • Making Ecological Focus Areas –  from hedge rows to flowering field margins – work.

And there are examples from all around Europe where good CoPs are being formed, but of couse this can and should be happening on a far larger scale. Some examples, from CSAs to organic food in hospitals in Denmark, are presented.

This animation is just part of our building work towards our conference on the 10-11th February in Brussels.