#Brexit: What it means for agri-food
A silver lining in the Brexit cloud is that people can radically rethink how food, farming and the rural space operate in the UK. What will this mean for direct payments, for environmental regulations, for food security – and who will do the hard work of farming? Finally, is some of this blue sky thinking of interest to the rest of Europe?
A new regime of border checks for imports to Britain from the EU will come into force at the end of April. Meat, dairy, seeds and other items classified as medium or high-risk will be the first subject to the controls. What does this entail and what is at stake? […]
Many British farmers are in a bad place. While there is some overlap with the struggles of farmers in the EU, for farmers in England, the move from farm income support via basic payments to a system based on ‘public money for public goods’ creates a unique challenge. […]
Marianne Landzettel returns with the second article recounting her visit to Northumberland, England, where she discovered how four farm families are dealing with post-Brexit agri policy. Part 1 left off at the Walton’s farm, which faces a £50,000 loss of farm income as basic payments are phased out. […]
In July 2023, Marianne Landzettel travelled to Northumberland, England to meet and interview four farm families. The resulting story portrays the difficulties upland farmers face as they navigate compounding crises. The phasing out of EU direct payments and their replacement with a system based on ‘public money for public goods’, combine with high input costs, extreme weather events, and increased market competition to threaten farm futures. […]
On 26 January, the future of post-Brexit agricultural policy in England became clearer with the government’s announcement of six new standards under its Sustainable Farming Incentive. While English farmers may cautiously welcome this long-awaited update, serious challenges remain for the sector in England, and across the United Kingdom. Marianne Landzettel reports. […]
The rows of colourful seed packets on display in large garden centres in the UK may look as well stocked and tempting as ever, and big seed companies too, continue to offer a wide choice of conventional, mostly hybrid varieties. But gardeners and growers looking for open pollinated and organic seed are having a harder time. By Marianne Landzettel. […]
Following Brexit, the four countries that make up the UK will each treat basic payments to farmers differently. For farmers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland payments will remain the same – at least for now. For farmers in England, change is coming faster. With Marianne Landzettel of the Sustainable Food Trust. […]
In post-Brexit Britain, the new Agriculture Bill is exposing the fault lines between environmental conservation, neoliberal trade deals, and the future of small-scale farming. In part two of this series, Anoushka Zoob Carter explores the phenomenon of technological nationalism in post-CAP politics, and the conflicts it is generating between advocates of rural renewal and of an emancipatory rural politics. […]
Brexit and the Covid crisis have yielded easy pickings for the far right. In the first of a two-part series, Anoushka Zoob Carter unpacks how new forms of nationalism are exploiting a broken food and farming system. […]
It seems inconceivable that it was only a year ago when the UK was due to crash out of the EU under a no deal Brexit. Thankfully that crisis was averted. Leading up to that momentous non-event, I wrote about what might happen to our food supply in the event that our smooth trading relationship with the EU broke down utterly. One year on, we find ourselves in a remarkably similar position […]
A mini-Brexit took place back in 1985 with the UK budget rebate, which violates the principle of solidarity in European integration. But the payments made to farmers under the Common Agricultural Policy are hindering further threats of withdrawal from the European Union. […]
To compete in the domestic and international market, British farmers and food processors must target the quality-differentiated, food-market segments. The multi-characteristic and multi-functional qualities of products must be effectively communicated to the consumer in an all-inclusive and transparent fashion. […]
The food security of the British population and its following generations cannot be simplified into a policy founded on the erroneous principle that the global market will always provide. It is vital for the food security of the British people that a sizeable proportion of the nation’s food comes from accessible and reliable sources operating regenerative food systems. Chapter 1 by Stuart Meikle. […]
CAP has had a massive influence on British agriculture. No other industry will have been so greatly impacted by the United Kingdom’s EU membership, and no other industry will be as affected as Britain leaves the European Union. Leaving the EU now offers the UK the opportunity to create a new food and farming policy. […]
The European Parliament last week called on member states to step up enforcement of existing rules on protecting livestock during transport. MEPs are urging member states to ramp up spot checks, use tracking technology to monitor compliance, and apply tougher penalties for offenders. Transport times should be cut, but the preference is to phase out live exports altogether in favour of local slaughtering. And when animals are transported to non-EU countries, EU standards should be applied. […]
Agricultural and Rural Convention