Community Supported Agriculure (CSA) can transform the way producers and consumers relate to food as a local commons. In 2008, the Romanian network for Community Supported Agriculture farms (ASAT) set out to open the eyes of urban consumers to the benefits of small-scale agroecological production and develop CSA partnerships. […]
In these challenging times ‘food security’ has returned to the agenda in what was assumed to be the well-fed countries of the World. That includes in Ireland, even though it is ranked first in the Economist’s Global Food Security Index. To inform this debate ARC2020 will present an article series – an extended op-ed – from Stuart Meikle. […]
The invasion of Ukraine by Russia has sparked a debate on food security in Europe. Here, we set things straight on the derogation to allow production on fallow land, analyse the state of grain production and use as feed in Europe and reflect on what it entails for the future of the livestock sector. […]
In a roundup of recent news, Ashley Parsons find that words and personnel can change, but business-as-usual can keep replying on the institutions to bail them out – no strings attached. Whatever the level of exposure and risk, whatever the talk of transitioning away from dependencies on agri-industrial inputs, money, it seems, will always be found for keeping the show on the road, whatever the crises. […]
In a context of crises compounding, the annual Feeding Ourselves gathering in Cloughjordan took on a renewed urgency this year. So how are the strands of people from food sovereignty, cooperative and environmental areas coming together to amplify their collective work? Oscar Mooney reports. […]
Why has the CAP been historically problematic for farmers’ economic sustainability, biodiversity and the environment, in the EU and the Global South? We explore historical choices regarding trade and CAP that led our agriculture towards liberalisation, highlight the consequences and propose some changes that could start a shift away from a market-oriented agriculture […]
The war in Ukraine is destabilising food security in Europe. The solution is not to dismantle the Farm to Fork strategy but to act on it faster. Here’s how the scenario is playing out and what’s at stake. […]
Sebastian Lakner assesses the current, rapidly changing situation of agri-food trade and policies. How is the war impacting on agri-food supplies, and what are the responses at EU and national level? This opinion piece is an English language update of an earlier German post on the agricultural economist’s blog. […]
The Sustainable Food Consortium is a collective of local people working to make the food transition a reality in the territory of Redon, Brittany. It began as an attempt to recreate the atmosphere of a popular farming festival. One of its co-founders, slow food cook Xavier Hamon, tells us about the journey so far, and shares his latest fair local food project – an on-farm restaurant. Part 2 of a conversation with Valérie Geslin. […]
An appalling war on Ukraine has manifold impacts. The direct human cost is immense and incalculable. The impacts on the world’s agri-food trade and commodity systems will be huge. The 4 F’s – fuel, feed, fertilizer and of course food are all heavily implicated. So what to do? Will Europe suspend progress on rerouting the food system towards more resilience, by doubling down into the worst aspects of these 4 F’s? Or can some aspects of a deeper iteration of food sovereignty emerge? […]
Fuori di Zucca is not just an online platform coordinating fair and sustainable purchasing transactions. The association mobilises a peer-to-peer network, where members of civil society, policymakers, producers, consumers can interact around a common mission: food sovereignty. So how does it do this? Matteo Metta has more. […]
ARC2020 – The Agricultural and Rural Convention has worked on the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) since 2010. Run by a small team and guided by an international group of board members, ARC carries out research, publishes regular content and organises debates and events on key CAP-related issues. ARC is now looking for a part-time position to support the CAP Strategic Plan project in two related areas: analysing and developing content on the CAP Strategic Plans; organising NGO and institutional networking around the national strategic plans implementing the next CAP post 2022. […]
A new German government coalition of Socialists, Liberals and Greens – known as the “traffic light coalition” – has put a new farming and food policy on its agenda. ARC2020 President Hannes Lorenzen provides insight into the agreement reached between the coalition parties. […]
Food and farming is notable by its almost total absence from climate change discussions at COP26. Yet farmers can and want to be part of the solution. Could big data be the key to unlocking a transition to sustainble farming and food systems? An unlikely alliance of multinational corporations and civil society organisations makes the case for a Global Farm Metric. Ursula Billington reports. […]
The food environment, a shift towards vegetables, and true cost true prices. There are the themes our colleagues in the Dutch Food Transition Coalition focused on in a submission on sustainable food systems in the EU. You can read an adapted version of the Dutch submission below, written by Willem Lageweg (director) Joost de Jong (strategic advisor) Dutch Food Transition Coalition. […]
Agricultural and Rural Convention