ARC2020 was involved in the Feeding Ourselves gathering in Ireland. This event focused on some important aspects to this idea – how do we better feed ourselves. So what are the A’s of better food systems? […]
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. […]
In the final part of this short series on Bhutan, Hannes Lorenzen teams up with Adrian von Bernstorff to examine how the Bhutanese economy is increasingly geared toward supporting food sovereignty and organic agriculture. […]
“We invite you to listen, understand each other, share, dream contribute, enjoy and act to change and improve our societies.” With these words of Forum Synergies’ Philippe Barret, so began the European Rural Sustainability Gathering 2017 in Karditsa. […]
Around the world, plant breeders are resisting what they see as corporate control of the food supply by making seeds available for other breeders to use. […]
by Tim Lang, City University London The situation created by the British vote to leave the European Union is momentous for UK food. It is on a par with the Repeal of the Corn Laws of 1846 when Britain decided its Empire could feed it, not its own farmers. And it is as important as the creation of the Agriculture Act of 1947 when after two bruising wars in which the population faced serious risk of starvation, the country decided to put its food house in order – to produce more of what it could and look after the land. Those events set the tone and framework for UK food for decades after. Brexit will do the same. It doesn’t help that the political elites are now knifing each other in a distraction from the genuine, looming effects. My concern is that the security of food might get lost in the debacle. The UK must not let that happen. Food stocks are low in a just-in-time economy, an estimated three to five days’ worth. The […]
What are the implications of other countries producing the GHG emissions ‘for you’? In other words exporting ever more food to you, all the while racking up their GHG emissions total? Its good for your emissions tally, but is this fair? Peter Crosskey has more […]
Sustainable agriculture, forestry and fisheries in the bioeconomy, a challenge for Europe is the title of the latest foresight exercise of the European Union’s Standing Committee on Agricultural Research (SCAR). […]
by Gilles Billen, Luis Lassaletta and Josette Garnier Globalisation is not only a matter of clothing and mobile phones. Long-distance worldwide shipping of food commodities has also increased tremendously over the last few decades. Lassaletta et al.(2014) estimate that one-third of all proteins (a proxy for the nutritive potential of foodstuffs) produced globally are redistributed through international trade. Thus a recent study in France shows that the total volume of long distance commercial exchanges of food commodities, mostly originating from far away, account for over twice the national agricultural production (Le Noé et al., submitted). However, the positive value of a globalised food supply is being actively questioned. In industrialised countries, a citizens’ movement has arisen, sometimes supported by local public authorities, seeking to promote a local food supply. This movement aims to reclaim control of nutrition, re-create social links often destroyed by the extent of mass distribution, and develop the local economy. Developing countries are also attempting to strengthen their local food supply and recover part of their food sovereignty lost by decades of […]
Upcoming conference focuses on “feeding the five million”…and more. […]
UK overlooks its precarious food security with a GBP 21bn trade gap. Peter Crosskey investigates. […]
Challenges aplenty for the food system in Europe, but some noteworthy outcomes in DG SANTO’s study. […]
How our convoluted food system destroys food sovereignty […]
G8 summit: Leaders urged to act with greater transparency and focus on climate change […]
Agricultural and Rural Convention