Newsflash

ARC Newsflash – October 2014

Dear friends and supporters of Arc2020, “A window was opened in what has been for 50 years the Cathedral of the Green revolution”. So said José Graziano De Silvia, Director General of the FAO at the International Agroecology Symposium recently. It did seem like a momentous moment, coupled with French Agriculture Minister Stéphane Le Foll backing of Agroecology that very week too. And yet, a few days later, the global high-level agri-food agenda had moved onto Climate Smart Agriculture – the other CSA. And lo, it came to pass that a broad, strong agroecology – the kind we promote in our project with Friends of the Earth Europe –  will have to struggle for the limelight against this bells and whistles version of business-as-usual. Attila Szocs of Eco Ruralis explains the issues with the other CSA in more detail later on in this newsletter. Later on too you’ll get our take on Phil Hogan – AG Commissioner designate – and what was gleaned from the European Organic Congress regarding the Organic Regulation. In particular inadvertent pesticide contamination – who foots the […]

Latest from Brussels

Key EU policy-makers: Organic is a key sector to develop in Europe

Bari, Italy, 11 September 2014 – From EU to national and regional level, policy-makers and organic stakeholders agree: the EU must support the development of the organic sector across Europe to achieve a sustainable agricultural system that benefits people and planet.  “Our goal is to create a sustainable model of agriculture based on distinctiveness, competitiveness and innovation. In this context, organic farming is a strategic sector for Italy and for all Europe.” This was the message of Maurizio Martina, Italian Minister of Agriculture, at the 8th European Organic Congress currently taking place in Bari, Italy. “We are using the Italian Presidency of the European Council to tackle the proposal for a new EU regulation. Another decisive date for the entire food industry and the challenges of the future will be Expo 2015, which will be a moment of collective reflection on crucial issues such as food security.” Alina-Stefania Ujupan, Deputy Head of Cabinet for Dacian Cioloş, European Commissioner of Agriculture and Rural Development, said: “The organic sector has made dramatic progress in recent years, and […]

Newsflash

ARC Newsflash – September 2014

Dear friends and supporters, Welcome to our September newsletter! As Autumn and the political season kick into gear once again, we’re helping build agroecological solutions to the business as usual model of food production. Three of Arc2020’s team are out and about promoting this work in September. Samuel Feret will showcase a poster on agroecology at the FAO’s seminar in Rome; Oliver Moore is presenting abut our agroecology approach and project at the European Organic Congress in Bari, while Robert Pederson has just attended the University of Copenhagen agroecology conference.We at Arc2020 see agroecology as holistic – it encompasses not just more environmentally benign production inputs, practices and processes: it is about stronger people-nature connectivity throughout the food system. It is about shorter distribution chains. It is about science, farmers and activists coming together to do food differently, in a way which is in keeping with the carrying capacity of the planet and with the real human need for connection.Some highlights from August: Agritourism in Romania The Original CSA? exclusive Arc2020 Interview with Ryoko Shimizo of Japan’s SEIKATSU UK taps into Agroecology […]

Newsflash

ARC Newsflash August 2014

ARC NEWSFLASH AUGUST 2014 Dear friends and supporters, Welcome to our August newsletter! We’ve been busy, working away especially on TTIP and agroecology over the last month. In many ways, these two strands of the agri-food world are poles apart. One deals with corporations on both sides of the Atlantic, and their cronies, trying to make labour, environment, health and safety rules weaker. The other presents solutions for making agri-food, rural communities and the living world better. Can you guess which is which? :-) Both these areas, as well as a shocking story on farm labour from Romania, a positive story on pesticides and people power, as well as lots of useful dates for upcoming events, make up the core of this August newsletter. More highlights from our recent posts include: Leave it to Tescos: UK food imports food security Permaculture: Green Solutions in the Greek Countryside Pioneer’s GM Maize 1507: the full history in Europe WWOOFing in Romania Don’t forget we have a regularly updated newsticker (recent updates include TTIP, bees, ‘fat tax’, pesticides & biodiversity), the 2000m² project, and we are very active on […]