Latest from EU Member States

Letter From The Farm | Cooking With The Lights Off – Ingredients of Rural Resilience

We’re back on Cortijo El Manzano in Campotéjar, rural Andalusia, with another letter from ARC2020’s Matteo Metta. This agroecological farm has been building resilience collectively since 1986. After his experience living and volunteering on the farm in February, Matteo reflects on what El Manzano can teach us about some key ingredients of rural resilience: housing, labour and energy […]

Latest from EU Member States

Letter From The Farm | A Flamenco Approach to Rural Resilience

In February, ARC2020’s Matteo Metta visited and worked on El Manzano, a farm deeply rooted in the living history of rural Andalusia, so rich in nuances, contrasts, and emotions, as expressed in the notes of flamenco and words of poets like Federico García Lorca. Farms like El Manzano are yet another example of a rural bridge between sustainable agri and food systems. […]

Latest from EU Member States

EU Digital Agriculture Needs Clear Socio-Ecological Directions

To set clear directions for responsible digitalisation in agriculture, the CAP and the Farm-to-Fork Strategy should integrate a new policy target aimed at substantially increasing the current low share of EU farmers engaged in other gainful activities connected to the farm to at least 25% by 2030. Dr. Matteo Metta shares findings from his Ph.D. research on digitalisation and on-farm diversification. […]

Main stories

A Sustainable Food System Law Paving the Way for an Ambitious CAP Reform

As has become very familiar in recent months, another opportunity to better integrate CAP and the pledges of the European Green Deal is being missed. Instead of watering down the ambition, this time the mainstream political establishment simply postponed or abandoned DG SANTE’s law proposal for a European Framework for Sustainable Food Systems. Yet, there are many ways the CAP or the Long-Term Vision for Rural Areas could accompany and bridge with the upcoming SFS. […]

Latest from key partners

Strengthening Multifunctional Agriculture through Digitalisation: Insights from Europe and Japan

We are told today that agriculture and rural areas are living through a pervasive digital transformation. But will digitalisation reverse the current productivism model or perpetuate it? At 72nd Annual Meeting of the Association for Regional Agricultural and Forestry Economics (ARAFE), Matteo Metta presented his insights on digital agriculture from the rural perspectives. The hybrid event took place last 23 October 2022 at the Ryukoku University (Kyoto, Japan) and touched upon key issues, global trends and local realities in agri, food, and rural transformations. […]

Latest from EU Member States

France | Pesticides, PDOs & Plenty of Spin at Salon de l’Agriculture 2023

Running since 1964, the Salon International de l’Agriculture in Paris is a microcosm of the knotted landscape around French agriculture. Visiting it for one day gives just a flavour of the much larger diversity, longer history, and deeper issues of this sector so important for French identities in France and Europe. We visited the 2023 opening day, curious to meet people, understand what is exhibited and what is not, and how. Here are our main takeaways. Photo reportage by Matteo Metta. […]

Main stories

Letter From The Farm | Learning from a Campesino Family in Cuba

In Cuba, food security is still a challenge after years of wars to fight against colonialism, imperialism and climate change. Yet, the island is far beyond the European Green Deal objectives, having largely achieved most of the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity targets that the EU aspires to attain by 2030. One Cuban farm is going even further. Welcome to La Finca del Medio, a 13.42-hectare family farm located in central Cuba, which is championing food sovereignty in the agroecological way. Matteo Metta writes from the farm. […]

Main stories

Just Transition in Ireland – Next Steps

What’s really involved in a genuinely just transition? Here we summarise the perspectives of wide range of actors from agriculture, energy, forestry and rural areas gathered to exchange views on the meaning and practical application of a just transition in a farming, food and rural context in Ireland. Event held in the WeCreate Centre in Cloughjordan ecovillage. With Matteo Metta and Oliver Moore. […]

Latest from Brussels

Last Week of CAP Negotiations: What’s the Deal?

As the negotiations start to come to a close, this article focuses on the remaining fair and green considerations. We shed light on the state of play in the CAP post 2022 inter-institutional negotiations, particularly in relation to those articles of the CAP Strategic Plan Regulation which are still open to political and technical discussions. So what’s the deal? […]

Latest from EU Member States

Hidden Formulas and Agri-Media – Can we Find a Fair CAP in Ireland?

With EU CAP trilogue negotiations entering a critical, final phase, the Irish Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine has published the results of a modelling analysis on its official website. This analysis, published in April, attempts to estimate the effects of 85% internal convergence of direct payments by 2026. While the results have been used to make strident, fear-mongering statements in the farming press, the methods used to come to these conclusions remain unclear. And the conclusions may in fact be be quite different to what is being reported in the farming press in Ireland. […]

Latest from Brussels

Super Trilogue Weakens Results-Oriented CAP

The shift from compliance towards a result-oriented delivery model was highly debated in the super trilateral meeting on the 26 March 2021. Have the EU co-legislators ensured that the CAP Strategic Plans are result-oriented, while still holding the delivery model accountable for taxpayers? Here is our analysis on the main outcomes of the meeting. […]