food system Archives - Page 7 of 13 - Agricultural and Rural Convention

ARC2020 and Rural Europe in times of Covid-19

May 10, 2020 ARC

It is difficult to grasp the scale of the situation we face with covid-19. People’s lives change fundamentally. So do our societies and economies. We face massive reductions: less mobility, no physical meetings, no open markets, no cultural events. We are living in isolation. How can we, how can our societies adjust to this new reality? How can we as ARC2020, as European network, research community, news provider and advocacy platform contribute to keeping civic movements alive and active around sustainable farming, food supply and transition towards better farming, food supply and ago-environmental practices? […]

Alternatives to Rural Right-Wing Populist Europe – Part II

May 7, 2020 Natalia Mamonova

In the second instalment of a two-part series on populism and rural Europe, Natalia Mamonova shares her insights on populist strategies in the countryside, food sovereignty as a counterforce to these dangerous trends, and the impact the coronavirus crisis is having on right-wing populist movements and rural transformations. […]

Alternatives to Rural Right-Wing Populist Europe

May 6, 2020 Natalia Mamonova

Populism has become a powerful political force in Europe. The current wave of populist movements has seeped through the European countryside from France to Sweden to Poland. Yet despite the emergence of resistance and alternatives to populism, the political debate continues to overlook rural Europe. In the first of a two-part series Natalia Mamonova shares her insights into why populism is having a moment in rural areas. […]

Czech Republic | Keeping Farming & Food in the Family

May 4, 2020 Louise Kelleher

In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, our creaking food systems have triggered a crisis within a crisis. Covid-19 has sounded the alarm on the planet’s unsustainable agricultural systems. Small-scale farms are vital links in the resilient local supply chains we need to build. But in the Czech Republic small farmers face challenges, and a six-week closure of farmers markets has hit hard. Louise Kelleher reports. […]

Changing the Way Children Learn About Farms & Food

April 23, 2020 Hans Wetzels

What role can education play in the green transition? Educational ecologist Ans Rossy argues that farms can bridge the growing gap between city children and food, farming and nature, and thus pave the way to a sustainable economy. In an interview with Hans Wetzels for ARC2020, Rossy makes a case for forging connections between farms and schools to help the next generation understand the interdependence of ecosystems, to make learning more relevant, and to open up economic opportunities for farmers. […]

Coping with Covid19 – Disruption, Protectionism and a People’s Agroecology

April 20, 2020 ARC

While it can feel undeniably overwhelming at times, its also important to remain informed and focused on how we can achieve better food, farming and a rural space – even in our new context. Much of the last month has been rightly focused on going back to basics – food, shelter, medicine. If we must go back to basics, and refocus on primary production, so be it. So what does this mean? […]

IPES-Food on Covid-19: Protect the Vulnerable, Build Resilience, Stay Vigilant

April 17, 2020 Louise Kelleher

The Covid-19 pandemic has put our food systems to the test, exposing the vulnerabilities of an unsustainable status quo. In a communiqué released on Tuesday, IPES-Food slams shortsighted solutions to the crisis. Calling for a paradigm shift to agroecological farming, it says now is the time to transform the seeds of change into the foundations of a resilient new food system. Industrial food systems are being peddled as solutions when in fact they are the problem. Louise Kelleher reports. […]

Whoever does not have Peasants, Should find Them: The Food Injustice of Pandemics

April 16, 2020 ARC

European Coordination of Via Campesina’s call to join the#StayHomeButNotSilent call to action on April 17 to commemorate the International Day of Peasant Struggle, reiterates the fundamental role of peasants in feeding people, even in the most difficult times. It takes a crisis for alternative food systems to emerge. Is our food system, dominated by trade ideology instead of human rights, ready to face pandemics? […]

Winning the Battle with the Agri-Giant Next Door

April 9, 2020 Louise Kelleher

Czech organic farmer Libor Kožnar has won his yearlong battle with Agrofert, the agribusiness empire operating next to his small holding. He lost the organic certification for his wheat due to fertiliser drift from an Agrofert sprayer. Agrofert is a multimillion euro conglomerate with ties to the Czech prime minister, currently under investigation in a conflict of interest case by the European Commission. […]

Coping with Covid19 – Supply Chains and the Butterfly Effect

April 8, 2020 Igor Tomasz Olech

The Covid-19 pandemic has hit pause on business as usual, and the food industry has been turned upside down. As the Achilles’ heels of the current system are exposed, food sovereignty becomes an urgent question. Igor Tomasz Olech examines the butterfly effect on supply chains and trade routes. […]

Effects of Coronavirus on Agricultural Production – a First Approximation (part 2)

April 6, 2020 Sebastian Lakner

Agricultural production is on track for this year, and the EU is self-sufficient in most areas. Despite the challenges of the coronavirus crisis we have little reason to worry about food supply in the EU. This was Sebastian Lakner’s tentative conclusion in part 1 of his review of the available data. But his findings come with some major caveats. Trade in commodities must continue to flow to guarantee food supply in the context of the EU’s interconnected agribusiness model. Here in part 2 Sebastian Lakner examines another critical factor: labour and seasonal migrant workers. […]

Effects of Coronavirus on Agricultural Production – a First Approximation

April 5, 2020 Sebastian Lakner

As public life shuts down around Europe and health systems buckle under the strain of the Covid-19 pandemic, concerns over food supply are the latest scare to make headlines. In recent weeks speculation is rife as to the potential impacts on agricultural production. In part 1 of this series, Sebastian Lakner crunches the numbers to identify the real risks to Europe’s food supply. […]

Framing Farming – Nationalism, Food Security and Food Sovereignty

April 1, 2020 Igor Tomasz Olech

As the Covid-19 outbreak hits the economy, we may experience a paradigm shift that no one expected. Now is the time to unpack the difference between food security and food sovereignty. And better understand how these terms are used by different groups. Igor Tomasz Olech looks at how these concepts are framed in the EU, and how Poland is ripe for a conversation about food sovereignty. […]

Poking Holes in Farm to Fork: Small Farmers have Solutions

March 28, 2020 Hans Wetzels

Farm to Fork is the European Commission’s strategy to support an EU-wide transition to sustainable food production. The Roadmap for the new strategy was open for public consultation until last week. In the final instalment in this three-part series covering feedback on Farm to Fork so far, we look at comments from farmers and agricultural organizations. Hans Wetzels reports. […]

Coping with Covid19 – the Open Food Network and the New Digital Order(s)

March 25, 2020 Oliver Moore

With Covid19, aka the coronavirus, come restrictions on people’s outdoor movements and gathering. This means that, while supermarkets are considered essential, it seems to be case by case for other food markets: instantly, farmers markets are shutting all over Europe with serious consequences for small producers. Digital food platforms have never been more urgent. Open Food Network is perhaps the best example of a good food network that’s digitised, cooperative, open source, not for profit and ready for your community. […]