Main stories

Labour Pains – are Workers Exploited in Ecological Farming?

Over 100 organisations including trade unions, NGOs, and organisations representing small farmers have signed an open letter highlighting the need for social conditionality in the next CAP. Unsurprisingly the major farming organisations in Europe have not signed the letter. But how are labour standards on smaller farms at the ecological end of the spectrum? The picture isn’t always rosy, as Brendán Ó Conchúir find out, though there are some tentative solutions emerging.  […]

Latest from EU Member States

Ireland | Forty Shades Of Greenwashing? – Part 1

Ireland’s current agri-food strategy places environmental protection and economic competitiveness on an equal footing. But can ambitions for growth be squared with the state’s duty to protect the environment? In the first of a two-part series, Alison Brogan investigates the realities of sustainable growth on the Emerald Isle. […]

Events

Super Stories at Soup & Talk 2021 – Be There!

Would you like to hear the story of an urban gardener in Syria? Or about the most famous hectare in France, growing hope in a back garden in Venezuela or peatland activists in Northern Germany? Action for fair and agroecological food system transformation takes countless forms – Soup & Talk brings together a global mix of innovative initiatives ready to share their grassroots efforts with the world. The Soup & Talk good food and good farming slam is happening via Zoom this Saturday, January 16th from 15:30 to 19:00 CET, and registration is free.   […]

Latest from Brussels

CAP | Time for Commission to Get Real on Spending, Say Auditors

The EU spends a lot on CAP – almost 40% of its annual budget. But are these billions of euros delivering results? In a new report, the European Court of Auditors find the Commission is “overly optimistic” on the performance of CAP spending and needs to focus on the real impacts. It also confirms that 80% of direct payments are going to 20% of beneficiaries. Louise Kelleher reports. […]

algal bloom in the central Baltic Sea
Latest from EU Member States

Poland | Drowning in Algae: Dead Zones in the Baltic Sea

Marine life in the Baltic Sea is drowning in algae. Largely to blame is nutrient run-off from intensive pig producers, thanks to a model of factory farming largely unchecked by EU regulations. Experts are calling for closed nutrient cycles to combat eutrophication – and engaging with the polluters to find solutions. Hans Wetzels reports from Poland. […]

Latest from key partners

Billions for CAP as an “extinction machine” – Farm to Fork Derailed

Next week, likely on October 20, the European parliament will vote on a supposedly historical reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which accounts for over one third of the EU annual budget. But as it stands, it is rather set to become a historical failure of rather catastrophic proportions. Op-Ed by Nina Holland, Martin Pigeon and Hans van Scharen, researchers at Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) […]

Main stories

Russia | Climate Crisis & Fields of Possibility

Russia is at a crossroads: will it dominate global export markets, or deliver stability and climate solutions for rural areas? In the third and final installment in our Russia series, Alia Yakupova and Hannes Lorenzen explore the fields in which Russia is fighting the battle with the climate and biodiversity crises. […]

Latest from key partners

New IAASTD+10 Book – Transforming Our Food Systems

A critical new book released today (24th September) by United Nations’ World Agriculture Report (IAASTD) members calls for an accelerated transformation of our food systems. The authors, including ARC2020’s Benny Haerlin, point to the need for a paradigm shift in the perception of the global food system, incorporating agroecology. Here we feature an op-ed by Katharine Earley.   […]

Latest from key partners

Milking The Planet: How Big Dairy Is Heating Up The Planet And Hollowing Rural Communities

Big Dairy’s greenhouse gas emissions are increasing, but the corporations responsible are not being held to account. Meanwhile consolidation in the dairy industry is squeezing smaller operators and hurting rural communities. It’s time to hold agribusiness accountable for its climate footprint, argues Shefali Sharma in a new report from the Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy. […]