Main stories Archives - Page 2 of 109 - Agricultural and Rural Convention

Feeding Ourselves 2023 – Diversified Diversification in Action

April 6, 2023 Oliver Moore

It’s good to be specific. It’s also good to be diverse. To be mixed and sometimes messy, to embed in a multiverse, a pluriverse, of things and people, of places and actions, of enabling infrastructure and strategic purpose. When it comes to making vibrant rural spaces, within our social and planetary boundaries, while living well, together…there’s a lot to be said for diversity – in its many, myriad forms. Welcome to Feeding Ourselves 2023 – a diversity love story. Words by Oliver Moore. […]

Feeding Ourselves 2023 | Fertile Ground for System Change

April 5, 2023 Louise Kelleher

Another rural is possible! ARC2020 and friends were in Cloughjordan Ecovillage, Ireland on March 25-26 for the annual Feeding Ourselves gathering, which takes food and farming as an entry point for moving towards fairer, more caring communities. What are the ingredients to cook up transformative system change? How can we build bridges between islands of practice? Why do we need to keep talking about gender? Louise Kelleher gives us a taste of conversations and connections at Feeding Ourselves 2023. […]

Main stories

Ukraine Joining the EU – An Elephant in the Room

April 3, 2023 ARC

If Ukraine joins the European Union, and the current Common Agricultural Policy system of per hectare payments remains untransformed, oligarch-run conglomerates could become eligible for tens of millions of euros in taxpayer money. But this is not the only possible agricultural reality in an enlarged EU. There are farmers, researchers, civic initiatives and officials – like the delegates of Ukraine’s Vinnytsia region who visited Low Saxony in March 2023 – exploring ways to rebuild and reorient the country’s farming and food system in times of war. […]

Nature Pushed to the Backburner – EU Round Up

March 30, 2023 Ashley Parsons

The much-anticipated SUR legislation to reduce the use of pesticides in the EU faces another setback as it appears that the vote will not take place until autumn, or later. […]

CAP post-2027: An Integrated Rural and Agricultural Policy – Part 2

March 26, 2023 Mathieu Willard

We present our proposal for an integrated Rural and Agricultural Policy. “Rural Europe Takes Action – No more business as usual” ends with an unwritten regulation: the #CAP of the future. So, what is it about and why is it important to talk about it now? […]

The German CAP Strategic Plan: The Ambition has yet to Come

March 24, 2023 ARC

The German CAP Strategic Plan has the potential for an ambitious CAP 2023 to 2027. While the debate on the next CAP post-2027 is already starting, in this article we argue that the German government needs to exploit all potential in the current CAP to increase the ambition towards more climate change mitigation and the protection and enhancement of natural resources and biodiversity. The coalition agreement gives them the mandate to do so. […]

CAP post-2027: An Integrated Rural and Agricultural Policy – Part 1

March 22, 2023 Mathieu Willard

Our book “Rural Europe Takes Action – No more business as usual” ends with a mysterious unwritten regulation, the Common Agricultural Policy of the future. Only it is not. It is much broader than that. We called it the European Rural and Agricultural (and Food) Policy (ERAP). So, what is it about and why is it important to talk about it now? Let’s dive into it. […]

ECJ Rejects Fourfold Seed Cultivation Fee

March 22, 2023 ARC

The European Court of Justice last week ruled that plant breeders could not claim lump-sum damages from farmers four times the fee due for licensed production in the case of repeated infringements of an EU regulation on community plant variety rights, without proving concrete damages of that same amount. What follows is a translation of a statement released on March 16 by IG Nachbau, a group working to restore the unrestricted right to farm-saved seed. […]

CAP, the Commission and Livestock Supports – Money Matters

March 17, 2023 ARC

There is a perception that, when it comes to the farming end of the agri-food system, CAP is primarily about supporting land owners and family farms. Is this the case? And even if so, does the Commission sometimes use the basic underpinnings of CAP to gloss over what are in fact significant, embedded supports for the most intensive end of the farming systems, including livestock? What does this mean for other producers? We attended a webinar on livestock recently, and these questions came to the fore. […]

A primer – New Genomic Techniques and Sustainability

March 15, 2023 Thea Lyngseth

For the past years there has been a huge debate on the introduction of New Genomic Techniques (NGTs) also known as new GMOs in the agricultural sector. The terms “sustainability” and “sustainable agriculture” have been focal points which arguments on both sides are drawn from, albeit with different premises and argumentation. As the next step in New Genomic Techniques legislation is being shaped in the EU, proponents for the use of NGTs and opponents continue to emphasise their views. Here’s an introduction to the issue in the broadest of terms – a primer – from new contributor to ARC Thea Lyngseth. […]

Post-Brexit Farm Policy – Outlook Across Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales

March 9, 2023 Ursula Billington

What’s on the cards for farm policy in the UK nations post-Brexit and post-CAP? In the first part of this series, Ursula Billington reported on the state of play for England’s small-scale farmers and horticulturists. In Part 2, she talks to representatives from the Landworkers Alliance in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales to gauge the situation in the devolved nations. […]

Feeding Ourselves 2023 – Another Rural is Possible!

March 6, 2023 Oliver Moore

Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th March 2023, Cloughjordan, Ireland, where ARC2020 and friends come together to work on making another rural Ireland possible! This gathering is designed to facilitate community learning and movement building. It will be an opportunity to celebrate and connect to farming, food, our ecology and community, to learn more about practicing food sovereignty, seed sovereignty, agroecology, best policy and practice, the solidarity economy, rural inclusivity and diversity, and community-supported local food systems. […]

Excerpt | Arche Noah report on EU Seed Marketing Reform

March 3, 2023 ARC

In preparation of the Commission’s expected proposal for a new seed marketing legislation on June 7th, here we republish with permission an excerpt from the recent Arche Noah report called EU reform of seeds marketing rules: Which seeds for a just transition to agroecological and sustainable food systems? Th e full report delves into the details on the legislative process; here we introduce the general content with an excerpt on diverse seeds and on the EU seed market as it is. […]

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

March 1, 2023 Matteo Metta

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. […]

“CAP is an Aberration in terms of Climate & Environmental Impact of Ag”

February 27, 2023 Hannes Lorenzen

This weekend the Salon de l’Agriculture kicked off in Paris. Beyond the romanticised picture of farming presented at big agri-food fairs like this, the food and farming system shows no sign of change. So it is with the new CAP, which locks in unsustainable agricultural practices while eroding European cohesion. Carbon farming, offered as a solution, will change nothing in substance. Plus ça change, argues ARC2020 President Hannes Lorenzen in an Op-Ed for Le Monde. […]