With Covid-19, our world has changed utterly. What can we learn from our recent past, and from interesting movements and moments now, to help us adjust and cope with the present and future? With Oliver Moore. […]
The FAO expects former Soviet countries like Ukraine to play an important role in feeding the world the coming decades. But questions remain about who will benefit from the oncoming agricultural gold rush. […]
Platforming the dynamic ways rural Europe has responded the key challenges of this time, the new book by Forum Synergies is a call to get stuck in. Read the final chapter on how Sicilian youth have organised access to land for young people, how to confront political uncertainty, why to pay attention to seeds and the value of an experimental spirit. […]
For the tenth year, tens of thousands have descended on central Berlin to demand changes in farming and food systems. This year, the 27,000 who turned up were focused on climate, a just transition for farmers, vetoing the EU Mercosur trade deal, and opposing many aspects of industrialised, corporate agriculture, from gene drives and pesticides to animal welfare and fairness for the global south. […]
Agriculture has changed significantly in the past century. Bigger machines, bigger farms and bigger budgets allow fewer farmers to produce more food. Changes in science and policy have also resulted in an industry in which power over what we grow and eat is increasingly held by very few. How have gardeners and seed savers responded? […]
ARC2020 is one of 30 civil society organisations have written an open letter in order to highlight the priorities and actions that the F2F strategy should have in order to provide a coherent response to societal concerns about biodiversity, climate change, health, income of all workers in the food chain, social equity and animal welfare, amongst others. […]
The EU’s rules on certified organic seeds are finally due to change from 2021. Why is this happening, and what is the sector doing to prepare? Stefan Doeblin works in the development of organic seeds. Here Hannes Lorenzen interviews him on this fascinating topic. […]
Methane emissions from rice play a significant but much overlooked part in global climate change, research shows. The German Development ministry supports research programs in Asia to counter the threat and help farmers. […]
Scientists behind a decade-long biodiversity study published, which showed “frightening” declines of insects and spiders in German grasslands and forests, are calling for a “paradigm shift” in land-use policy. […]
The longer we delay mitigation measures, the higher the costs and risks for the functions and services our land ecosystems provide, warns the IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Land Use. If we want to keep warming below 1.5°C, land use must be part of the equation. Louise Kelleher unpacks the findings. […]
Yesterday morning, several hundred protesters descended on Strasbourg to call on the European Parliament to reform the CAP acknowledging the serious climate and environmental crises. This was the closing action of this years Good Food Good Farming campaign which saw over 90 actions in 23 countries. […]
When it comes to carbon storage, a new peer reviewed publication shows the benefits of digging a little deeper. Researchers from University of California, Davis, found that compost is a key to storing carbon in semi-arid cropland soils. The key to this study is the significant carbon storage benefits found below 30cm. […]
With the Irish 2030 agri-food strategy preparations underway, Regenerative Farming Ireland (RFI) have launched a vision for a truly green farming, food and rural future for Ireland, Farm-2-Fork 2030. Stuart Meikle, member of RFI, lays out the vision here. […]
Young farmers and food activists are crucial in the transition away from industrial agriculture. Saskia Richartz from Wir Haben es Satt! has just returned from Beats & Bohne, a festival to gather these young people to dance, feast and plan the agricultural transition. […]
On Wednesday the 10th of July an estimated 2,500 farmers took to the streets of Dublin to protest against the proposed Mercosur deal. The protest was organised by Beef Plan, a voluntary not for profit organisation set up in October 2018 by a small group of farmers from Meath (in Ireland’s centre-east). Since then, its membership has grown to over 20,000. So who are they and what do they want? […]
Agricultural and Rural Convention