Latest from Brussels

Brussels Roundup – Stasis for Animals, Tightrope for new GMOs

Next week, all eyes are on two key votes which will steer the future direction of the EU’s plans to loosen the rules governing new GMOs (aka new genetic technologies, or NGTs). Meanwhile, the European Commission finally put forward a slimmed down version of its animal welfare ‘package’ and lawmakers decided to exempt cattle from its plans to slash industrial emissions. Natasha Foote brings you up to speed in the latest goings on and the fun to come in Brussels. […]

Latest from EU Member States

Graduation then Desertion – French Ag Students Opting for a Different Path

Last week, French students at Agro Paris Tech  – France’s most prestigious agro-engineering school – staged a “call to desert” during their graduation speech. To desert? Yes, to desert the environmentally destructive engineering positions the university sets them up for after graduation. But these inspiring words and actions of these young people don’t match up to the government’s actions, nor the school’s response. A recap and analysis by Ashley Parsons. […]

Latest from the ARC network

COP26 | Corporations Team Up With CSOs To Push Big Data Solutions For Sustainable Food & Farming Systems

Food and farming is notable by its almost total absence from climate change discussions at COP26. Yet farmers can and want to be part of the solution. Could big data be the key to unlocking a transition to sustainble farming and food systems? An unlikely alliance of multinational corporations and civil society organisations makes the case for a Global Farm Metric. Ursula Billington reports.   […]

Main stories

Russia | Climate Crisis & Fields of Possibility

Russia is at a crossroads: will it dominate global export markets, or deliver stability and climate solutions for rural areas? In the third and final installment in our Russia series, Alia Yakupova and Hannes Lorenzen explore the fields in which Russia is fighting the battle with the climate and biodiversity crises. […]

Latest from key partners

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

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? […]

Latest from EU Member States

UK | Chapter 1: Robust Food Production 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. […]

Latest from key partners

United States | The Real Future of Agriculture

The US ambassador to the UK has called American farming “the future of agriculture” to encourage the opening of European markets to US products. But what does this food system actually look like? What are its implications on public health, the environment and rural communities? Our partners at IATP report from the states.  […]

Main stories

Right-Wing Populism and Counter-Movements in Rural Europe

Right-wing populism has gained high levels of support among rural population in Europe. How could this happen and what are the solutions? Natalia Mamonova, of the Emancipatory Rural Politics Initiative, explains the causes of populism in the European countryside and shares some ideas on potential resistance and the building of alternatives to the regressive nationalist politics. […]

Latest from EU Member States

Ireland’s “Livestock-Industrial-Complex”

This long read by Frank Armstrong gives a background into what he calls the livestock industrial complex. Part history, part contemporary agri-food overview, part health and environmental case and part personal note, this article is speaks of power and how it operates in different spheres. These include politics, media and nutritional advice, all through the prism of livestock farming in Ireland. […]