farming Archives - Page 2 of 11 - Agricultural and Rural Convention

European Committee of the Regions Adopts Opinion on Agroecology

February 18, 2021 ARC

The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) has adopted an opinion on agroecology suggesting a comprehensive set of measures to foster agroecology in the EU. The opinion highlights problems with European agriculture, including global warming, soil degradation, biodiversity destruction, as well as needs – protecting natural resources, reducing GHG emissions, fostering biodiversity and moving from extraction to circularity. […]

Letter From The Farm | Half The Price Of Your Food Is Paid By The EU

January 13, 2021 Louise Kelleher

We hear again from Czech livestock farmer Josef who is disillusioned with the sector’s refusal to move with the times. He’s found he can do more ecological farming without the red tape of organic certification and senseless inspections. And although income supports were a huge help to him as a new entrant, he would be happy to see direct payments cut for established farmers. […]

Super Stories at Soup & Talk 2021 – Be There!

January 11, 2021 ARC

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. […]

Oxford Real Farming Conference 2021 – Eleven Sessions Not to Miss

January 5, 2021 Oliver Moore

Interested in the magic of mycelium, the organic end of no-till, spotting food industry spin or learning about indigenous knowledge and regenerative agriculture connectivities? Or maybe agri-policy is your thing? Look no further than the Oxford Real Farming Conference, which starts this Thursday and features an amazing array of speakers and participants from all over the world. […]

Navigating In Circles, On Course For 2030!

January 5, 2021 Hannes Lorenzen

Since the turn of the century ARC2020 has been part of the struggle to make European farming, food and rural policies fairer, more resilient and fit for the future. Are we going around in circles, or navigating in circles? Hannes Lorenzen shares some reflections for the year(s) ahead. […]

The Common Agriculture Policy and Sustainable Farming: A statement by scientists (December 2020)

December 8, 2020 ARC

40 scientific experts have come together today to release a paper on the role CAP plays in trying to make farming sustainable. Below we republish the summary of this paper, and provide a link to download the paper in full. Led by Guy Pe’er, and including our own Matteo Metta, the paper is critical of both the initial CAP proposal by the Commission from 2018, and more critical again of the positions taken by the Council and Parliament in October 2020. Important reading in the current trilogue context. […]

CAP Reform | So Far Not A Game Changer For Young Farmers, Says CEJA

November 10, 2020 ARC

What do young farmers want from CAP reform? In this email interview, Alessia Musumarra, Secretary General of the European Council of Young Farmers (CEJA), acknowledges some wins in the European Parliament, identifies where more ambition is needed, and lays out what CEJA hopes to see from the trilogues. […]

Letter From The Farm | Grateful For Invisible Friends

November 6, 2020 Chiara Garini

We’re back on Chiara’s forest farm at the foot of the Italian Alps, where there’s much to be grateful for. Chiara updates us on an abundant shiitake harvest, her mushroom business going wild, and finding solace in fungi as “invisible friends”. […]

Regenerative Agriculture part 3 | Working With Nature, Not Suppressing It

October 26, 2020 Peter Dunne

In the third and final installment in this series on regenerative agriculture, Peter Dunne explains how regenerative agriculture is about working with nature, not suppressing it. We’re often told nature and agriculture can’t share the same space. But we urgently need a paradigm shift, because true resilience only comes through diversity. […]

Regenerative Agriculture part 2 | A Soils-First Farming & Food Policy

October 13, 2020 Peter Dunne

In the second installment of an exclusive series on regenerative agriculture, Peter Dunne unpacks the rise of agrochemicals and the noxious legacy of the Green Revolution. He argues that regenerative agriculture is a reason for hope, if only we can put soils first in our farming and food policy.
[…]

Reclaiming the Place of Agrobiodiversity in the Conservation and Food Debates

October 12, 2020 ARC

Both academic and policy debates tend to focus on how to further intensify agricultural landscapes to spare natural lands for natural biodiversity conservation and carbon sequestration. This Brief from IDDRI elaborates on a literature review of recent publications to argue that equal attention should be paid to the protection and restoration of biodiversity within agricultural landscapes, most notably for the role it plays as a critical production factor. […]

Regenerative Agriculture part 1 | Resources Must Be Replenished

October 9, 2020 Peter Dunne

Woody Harrelson and Kiss the Ground may have brought the approach to a wider audience, but regenerative agriculture is nothing new. In the first installment of a three-part series, Peter Dunne explains what regenerative agriculture is, and why we should extract with the knowledge and intent to replenish. […]

Russia | 2000m² of Hospitality

October 5, 2020 Hannes Lorenzen

To kick off our new series on Russia, Hannes Lorenzen takes us to the tiny village of Kalinino, where he was overwhelmed by the local hospitality. Here, each family produces much of their own food on around 2000m² of land. […]

Czech Republic | Wrangling with the Next Generation

September 30, 2020 Louise Kelleher

Meet Czech farmer Terezie Daňková, who raises cattle and sheep on a 450 ha. ranch on mostly rented land in Southern Bohemia, with the help of her cowgirl daughter Barbora (20), her son Vojtěch (13), and a stable of horses. Louise Kelleher speaks to two generations of women farmers about the realities of rural life, the pull of the city, and what brings them back to the farm. […]

New IAASTD+10 Book – Transforming Our Food Systems

September 24, 2020 ARC

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. […]