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Contents

1. MAJOR: FOOD: THE AGRICULTURAL REVOLUTION 3

Another food system! 3Editorial Board

Food for the soul, not just the stomach: the countrysides other role 7

Mark Simpson

Food without the go-between 11Katarzyna Soboda

Finland, land of developing agriculture 14Antti Mller

France: Epicentre of the malbouffe crisis 20Natalie Gandais and Alain Lipietz

Hungarian land-grabbing: family farmers vs. politically backed oligarchs 26Rebeka Szab

Greens and farmers: the new alliance 31Benot Lechat interviews Jos Bov

Getting a taste for it 37Erica Meijers interviews Esther Boukema

From the Common Agricultural Policy to Sustainable Food Systems 41Louise Knops

Brussels and Wallonia: Green pioneer projects in sustainable food systems 47Louise Knops

EU agricultural policy at the crossroads: the vision of a Green regional minister for rural affairs 52Alexander Bonde

Organic farming and agricultural movements in Spain 56Birgit Weiss

Poverty, food and citizens responses in Greece 60Kostas Loukeris

Why farmers still struggle when food prices rise 64Thomas Lines

II. MINOR: BREXIT 69

Never closer Union? The British test 69Edouard Gaudot

Camerons EU gamble and the consequences for Scotland 75Patrick Harvie

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Another foodsystem!The food revolution is a cultural and socialrevolution, claims the Editorial Board of the Green

European Journal, who introduce its fifth edition.

1. MAJOR: Food: the (agri)cultural revolution

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Food: the (agri)cultural revolution

With its lasagne-layers of dubious origin, thehorsemeat scandal might be dubbed the subprimecrisis of the European food system. Although itsconsequences are less toxic, it once again castsdoubt on the ability of the agro-industry to deliverhealthy, tasty and sustainable nutrition. The failureof a system once based on the promise of Europesfood-sovereignty reveals ironically a dramatic senseof helplessness, shared all along the food chain fromcaptive consumers and desperate farmers to cynicalindustrials and impotent politicians.

Bringing back to earthThere is urgent need for radical changes, not onlyin the food safety procedures but also in the wholeEuropean agriculture and food production. The goodnews is that there is a growing interest among thepublic towards the issue of food, most likely becausebeyond its physiological function, it represents acrucial link between our societies and their naturalenvironments. Any food and agricultural policy thatdoes not include a deeper understanding of this

interaction is doomed to fail. In other words, it isabout time to bring back to earth a food-chain thatwe once believed could be wholly emancipated fromnatures contingency.

Our food system extends further than agriculture andthe agro-industry. It does not only include the workers,agricultural produce, consumers and the consequencesof their activities on health and the environment. Thecultural and social dimensions and representationswhich differ from one European country to anothershould also be taken into account as they playa key role in its configuration. The politics of food iscultural and social, in addition to being ecologicaland economic. Therefore, the Greens who are at theforefront of the struggle against the agro-industry and

its impact on people and the environment should notnarrow down their solutions to a single dimension.As in the case of the economic and ecological crisis,systemic actions are strongly needed.

Indeed agriculture is responsible for more than 30%of greenhouse gas emissions on a global scale. Butit would be inaccurate and ineffective to limit thegrowing urge for its transformation merely to thismajor ecological issue. Conversely, if we are of courseas consumers all concerned by the quality of food,

the Greens would make a major mistake in adoptinga narrow consumerist approach by only focusing oncheaper, tastier and healthier food. Protecting ourenvironment and health has to be simultaneouslycombined with the pursuit of enhanced enjoymentand social justice.

The politics of foodis cultural and social,in addition to beingecological and economic.Therefore, the Greenswho are at the forefront

of the struggle againstthe agro-industry and itsimpact on people andthe environment shouldnot narrow down theirsolutions to a singledimension.

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Farmers at the centre of change

Above all, the transformation of our food system willnever occur unless those most affect, farmers, are atthe centre of such change. We need to strengthenevery means of reconnecting the consumers to theproducers and to the natural and social frameworksin which our food is produced. What is at stake inthe Green prioritisation of local produce is qualityimprovement and transport cost reduction. Moreover,the Greens favour the opportunity of gettingproducers and consumers together to develop

common responsibilities regarding the environmentand of working towards common economic interests,even if they dont always converge.

The expansion of food cooperatives throughoutEurope goes far beyond any sophisticated formof progressive consumerism. It is potentially oneof the best ways of re-embedding agricultureand its workers in the very fabric of our societies and literally re-ground our cities, families andcollective practices in the earth. We will not succeed

in transforming the food system without thedevelopment of new alliances between consumersand producers. This is precisely the objective of thecooperative movement almost throughout Europe.

A necessary reconnectionFood is what the anthropologists refer to as a totalsocial fact, i.e. something that encompasses theinstitutions and aspects that structure our social life.It is the meeting point between culture and nature,the external nature, including non-human beings,and our own internal human nature, i.e. our relation

to our body and to other human beings. Beyondthe growing success of TV programs dedicated tocooking and beyond the growing importance givento the quality and authenticity of the products,there might be more than just a hedonistic quest.What many Europeans are seeking is to reconnectwith nature and with what the 19th century Frenchgastronomist Brillat-Savarin called convivialitywhich is probably just one of the most refined formsof sociability and altruism. Taking the time to cook forour family, friends and co-workers would probably

help us to redefine our prosperity more than manycomplex policies of sustainability.

Developing a better food education might be one ofthe best ways of fighting the dramatic paradox: justwhen the financial crisis and austerity policies forcemillions of Europeans to resort to food banks, publicexpenses generated by obesity and diabetic ailmentsare increasing dramatically. Every study on the matteremphasises the link between the combined levelsof education and income and potentially unsound

food-behaviour. Fighting against those trends ona European and global level is a major issue ofsocial justice and it should not be reduced to itseconomic dimension.

Olivier De Schutter, the special rapporteur of the UNon the right to food, has shown that in this centurythere are pragmatic agro-ecological methods thatenable us to feed humankind in a sustainable way.We need to put an end to a system whose proportion

of waste ranges between 30 and 50%; then itll bepossible to resist the sirens of the agro-industry,

Just when the financialcrisis and austerity

policies force millionsof Europeans to resort

to food banks, publicexpenses generated by

obesity and diabeticailments are increasing

dramatically.

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chanting us into believing that only their junk canfeed 10 billion humans. There are indeed Greenalternatives to the current failing CAP, as they are forexample developed by the Heinrich Bll Foundationor by the Greens in the European Parliament. Yetimplementing them will not only be an institutionalissue, but also a stimulating long-term culturalprocess. There will be no great leap forward towardssustainable agriculture. Instead, we are likely towitness millions of small actions undertaken on manylevels. The Green revolution starts with our food.

The editorial board of the Green European Journal

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Food for the soul, not just the stomach: remembering the countrysides other role


My thesis: We have the potential for a world with9 billion people that is not characterised by resourcewars and ecological disasters. How did Ernst Blochexpress it? Up to now the position of industry innature has been like an army in enemy territory.The essential thing now is the shift to a technicalalliance, to co-evolution with nature.

Ralf Fcks is Co-President of the German Heinrich Bll Stiftung and

formerly served as Co-President of the German Green Party.

Reinhard Loske is formerly a regional Senator in Bremen, Germany.He has authored a number of publications on sustainable

development and climate change.

Food for the soul,not just the stomach:

the countrysides

other roleA focus on food production and protectingbiodiversity should not be at the expense ofa third key function of the countryside, accessto it by the people.

Mark Simpson

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1 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2159174/LEAF-survey-One-young-adults-think-eggs-come-wheat.html?ito=feeds-

newsxml#axzz2KK8bqnW82 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1395075/Are-Britons-nature-nitwits-1-5-dont-know-oak-trees-come-acorns.

html#axzz2KK8bqnW83 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/08/how-horsemeat-scandal-unfolded-timeline

One in ten young adults thinks eggs comefrom wheat!1

15 per cent of adults think cows milk comesfrom male cattle!2

Poking fun at the sensationalism of right-wingnewspapers like the Daily Mailis something ofa national pastime for those in the UK whosepolitics lean more to the left.

But behind the headlines lies a serious issue ofdisconnect between sections of the public and thecountryside that manifests in a lack of knowledgeof nature as well as our food chain.

While negotiators working to shape the future ofEU agriculture policy will understandably prioritiseissues of food security, climate change mitigationand nature conservation, reconnecting the Europeanpopulation to rural areas must also be on the agenda.A first step to doing so is to ensure that citizens of all

Member States have the opportunity to get into thecountryside and experience it at first hand.

Some readers may ask why we should be concernedabout facilitating visitors to the countryside as longas rural land plays its main roles of producing foodand providing habitats. It can be argued that boththese functions can be supported by providing accessopportunities for leisure visitors.

Other contributors to this edition of the GEJ willmake the case for improving both the quality andsustainability of the food we eat in Europe and theconditions under which animal products in particularare produced. These important objectives areundermined by lack of public knowledge of wheretheir food comes from.

Information that is crucialWhile the recent horse meat scandal3may causesome individuals to think more carefully about where

their food comes from, the fact is that someone whodoes not know that the milk they are drinking comesfrom a cow or that the egg they are eating comesfrom a hen is unlikely to be in a position to make aninformed judgement as to the quality or ethics oftheir food, even if they wanted to.

An idyllic farm setting, but how close to realityis such an image?

Megnut

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4 http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/policy/crow/opencountry.aspx; National Trust Open Country Report (1995).5 Natural England Open Access Annual Monitoring Report 2007 (2008).

6 http://www.countryfile.com/blog-post/report-natural-childhood-summit7 http://www.cnccni.gov.uk/position_paper_on_access_to_ni_countryside__2a_.doc.pdf; Christie and Matthews, The Economic and Social Value

of Walking in Rural England (2003).

Even those who know in general terms wheretheir food comes from may have in their heads animage of a rural idyll populated by happy cattle inrolling meadows, chickens pecking for food alonghedgerows, that may be completely at odds withthe factory-farmed meat, eggs and dairy productsmany of us eat. The features that make an attractivecountryside for visitors are often associated withtraditional farming practices that give animals a morenatural existence and leave more space for nature.

Striking a better balance between agricultureand nature is, of course, a stated aim of commonagriculture policy reform. Within agriculture, asin other industries, environmental regulation hasoften been depicted as an unwelcome burdenthat prevents the real experts (farmers) managingtheir land as they see fit and creates extra costs forproducers and consumers alike. However, therecan be no doubt that although farming is directlyresponsible for the creation of many of our mostprized landscapes, intensive agriculture also poses

a potential threat to scenery and biodiversity alikeand must be regulated accordingly.

Regulation can be justified in general, abstract orscientific terms. But the public at large will betterappreciate the case for environmental controls ifthey feel they directly benefit. Two of the UKs largest

environmental NGOs argue strongly that, unlesspublic access would fundamentally undermineconservation objectives, protected sites shouldbe open to visitors so that they can experience forthemselves just what is being protected and enjoythe exposure to nature.4This model is now beingapplied to some extent in England, where more thanhalf of all open access land falls within sites of specialscientific interest5, although it is argued that muchwork remains to be done before the public feels trulyreconnected to nature.6

The arguments in favour of increased access to thecountryside do not end there. With small farmersacross Europe facing difficulty in making ends meetand ever higher numbers of villages transforminginto dormitories for commuters, countrysiderecreation offers a golden opportunity to injectmoney into the rural economy. Visitors to ruralEngland have been estimated to spend 6.14 billion(7.25 billion) per year and support some 245,000

jobs, while every pound invested in the upkeep of the

Pembrokeshire Coast Path is said to result in gainsof 57 to the Welsh economy.7

The endless benefits of access to the countrysideEnjoyment of the countryside can also make a majorcontribution to addressing the health crisis affectingmany developed nations. In Northern Ireland,

The public at large willbetter appreciate the

case for environmentalcontrols if they feel they

directly benefit.

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8 DCAL/Sport NI, Sport Matters: the Northern Ireland Strategy for Sport and Physical Recreation 2009-2019 (2009).9 http://www.kindertrespass.com/

a small region of fewer than 2 million inhabitants,the economic cost of obesity and physical inactivityhas been estimated at 500 million (591 million) peryear8 it is impossible to put a price on the humancost. With performance sport lacking appeal amonga large section of the population, the public bodiesresponsible for sport and leisure view the promotionof non-competitive outdoor activities as one of thebest means of improving public health and wellbeing.

At present, different EU Member States and even

different regions within states take very differentapproaches to recreational access to the countryside.Some, including Sweden and Germany, havepreserved an extensive traditional right to roam onunenclosed land. The UK has seen a century anda half of campaigning, and sometimes open conflictbetween ramblers and landowners as the urbanworking classes sought to assert their rightto escape the satanic mills of Greater Manchester andYorkshire.9Finally, Scotland and to a slightly lesserextent England and Wales introduced a statutory

right of access to large areas of rural land at the startof the 21st century.

Other states, including the Netherlands, France, theRepublic of Ireland and Northern Ireland take a muchless liberal approach. Legal access rights in thesecountries are confined to a sometimes extremelylimited network of public rights of way (only 313km inNorthern Ireland) and some additional paths createdby contractual agreement, usually for a limited numberof years, with landowners. Recreational users are only

able to visit many prized areas through trespassingor informal tolerance on the part of landowners.

As negotiations on reform of the commonagricultural policy continue, the time is ripe toconsider how public enjoyment of the countrysidecan be placed on the European agenda.

The UKs attempts in the 1990s to open up moreopportunities to access set-aside through agri-environment payments were notably unsuccessful.

However, the High Courts ruling in 2007 that it ispermissible to include direct payments under CAPconditional on non-obstruction of existing publicrights of way under cross-compliance rules maypoint to a way forward.

Tying an element of the financial support the EUprovides to farmers to the preservation of existingrights to countryside recreation, with furtherincentives for the provision of further opportunities,could have a very significant impact on the ability of

the public to access the countryside.

Perhaps then, in time, headlines about peoples lackof knowledge of where their food comes from willbecome a thing of the past.

Mark Simpson is a socio-legal researcher at the University

of Ulster and a member of the Green Party in Northern Ireland.

As negotiations onreform of the commonagricultural policycontinue, the time isripe to consider howpublic enjoyment of the

countryside can be placedon the European agenda.

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My thesis: We have the potential for a world with9 billion people that is not characterised by resourcewars and ecological disasters. How did Ernst Blochexpress it? Up to now the position of industry innature has been like an army in enemy territory.The essential thing now is the shift to a technicalalliance, to co-evolution with nature.

Ralf Fcks is Co-President of the German Heinrich Bll Stiftung and

formerly served as Co-President of the German Green Party.

Reinhard Loske is formerly a regional Senator in Bremen, Germany.He has authored a number of publications on sustainable

development and climate change.

Food without thego-betweenFood cooperatives are a way of ensuring a supplyof local and socially sustainable food. However

the barriers to their development should notbe underestimated, including opposition frommiddlemen who have the most to loose. Lookingat experiences in Brazil, Poland and the US,Katarzyna Soboda charts a way forward.This article first appeared in the Polish greenmagazine Zielone Wiadomoci.

Katarzyna Soboda

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Food without go-between

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In 1993 the newly elected government of BeloHorizonte, the capital of Brazilian Minas Geraisstate, declared that food was a right of citizenship.The new mayor, Patrus Ananias de Souza, startedimplementing this right by creating a council of20 citizens of the city, including workers, businessand church leaders, with an objective of creatinga new food policy. New markets with agriculturalgoods have been created, where local small farmerscould sell their crops directly to the people. Smalllandowners were encouraged to create local ABC

shops (Food for a small price in Portuguese),in which prices for several basic products comingfrom local producers have been regulated by the cityauthorities. Peoples restaurants were opening upcity, where no meal was more expensive than1 Brazilian real (ca. 1,5 zoty or 40 euro cents).The plan of local authorities also included educationon healthy eating and controlling the qualityof the food sold in shops around Belo Horizonte.Information regarding ways of having a cheap mealhas been put in public spaces, such as bus stops.

Such a systemic approach would be a dream cometrue for members of food cooperatives, for whomself-organisation for getting cheap and healthy foodis a main goal. There are 10 such initiatives aroundPoland in cities such as Warsaw, d, Pozna,Gdask, Opole, Wrocaw or Krakw. Supply is donewith different regularity, usually (and sadly) justat local markets, which guarantee access to freshfood only on a seasonal basis, while other goodsare imported or produced with chemicals undergreenhouses. They dont always succeed in ignoring

the middlemen of the production and distributionprocesses. Some efforts in connecting with localfarmers producing organic food are being pursued,but its also hard to pass through the problem withfood certification, which automatically increasesprices. Another problem with having regularcooperation with local producers comes with the factthat food cooperatives are an informal structure withno hierarchy and high rotation among its members,often continuing thanks to the efforts of just a fewengaged people.

The nature of a food cooperative is that it isan association open for all, an arch-enemy ofall monopolies and restrictions, a truly peoplesgrouping. Having an obligation to directly buy thegoods, it in essence tends to bring together all ofthe consumers, that is all people, and therefore torule the whole domestic market and to organiseand change the market for the needs of the people- wrote Edward Abramowski, Polish left-libertarianauthor on the turn of 19th and 20th century. One of

his influences on modern cooperatives in Poland isa group fund - a sort of internal, 10% tax onshopping activity paid by each member. It is usuallyused for supporting local initiatives for social justiceor when needed acts as a sort of insurance for itsmembers. According to another cooperative author,Romuald Mielczarski, this fund was meant to bea common profit of the group that would be laterinvested, i.e. in infrastructure. Thats the way that in1907 the Spoem association in d came into life -

a group comprised of smaller cooperatives.

The nature of a foodcooperative is that itis an association openfor all, an arch-enemyof all monopolies andrestrictions, a truly

peoples grouping.Edward Abramowski

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Food without go-between


Why should supermarket chains be the only way todistribute food?

Ensuring the system works for cooperativesThe main challenge that Polish food cooperatives faceis having access to healthy, fresh and cheap productsthat dont have to be restricted just to the middleclass, as is often the case with certified, organic food.

One of the possibilities is direct support of foodproducers on a regular basis be it financial, logisticalor through working on the farm during differentparts of the production process, according to the rule,that you do not pay for food, you pay for agriculture.Such a system of Community Supported Agricultureis based on sharing not only the crops, but also theresponsibilities and risks related to potentially badharvests. In 2011 the citizens of Sedgwick in Maine,USA decided to pass a law according to which localfarmers would have the possibility of selling their

crops directly, which defied state law. Months later

such motions have been supported by other citiesand towns in Maine Penobscot, Blue Hill, Trenton,Hope, Plymouth, Appleton and Livermore.We declare that we have a right to produce,process, sell, buy and consume local food, in this waysupporting self-sufficiency, caring for family farmsand local food traditions. The right to have a localfood system is connected with our undeniable rightof self-governance states the motion passed inPenobscot. In Poland it is the food cooperatives that

should be promoting the discussion on consumerhabits, and more a civic engagement in creatingagricultural and food policies.

Katarzyna Soboda is a curator in the Art Museum in d, where

she leads the City Ecologies programme together with Aleksandra

Jach. She is also a member of a food cooperative in d.

Katarzyna Sloboda

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Finland, land of developing agriculture

Finland, landof developing

agricultureDevelopment continues and the overall numberof farms declines. What is it like to be a farmerin todays Finland? Will the sector still attract newentrepreneurs in the future?

Antti Mller

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Urbanisation is a global phenomenon that has longaffected Finland. People are moving to towns andcities with an ever diminishing number workingin agriculture. In Finland in the 1940s, agricultureemployed about half the work force, today it employsfewer than 4%.

At the same time the number of working farmshas collapsed. It fell by over 50,000 in the 1990s.Although the rate of decrease has been considerablyslower during the 2000s, the trajectory of change

is still clear: in the year 2011 the country lost about1,200 farms. Last year there were 61,000 farmsin Finland, and their average size keeps growing.

Despite the general trend towards centralisationand the shift into other economic sectors, we do stillhave an agricultural sector in Finland which is around54,000 businesses strong.

What is it like working and progressing in the sector,which produces food for the Finnish population?

Vihre Tuumainterviewed two farmers.

Lauri Hantula, 45, raises livestock and farms landin western Finland. Aittomki farm, located nearSeinjoki, has about 75,000 chickens and 400 pigs.The arable land of 250 hectares is planted withbarley and wheat. The farm has been involvedin experimental methods under the auspices ofFinlands environmental administration for nine years,the most recent project being an investigation intohow to reduce nutrient loading in the soil.

I come from a farming family. This is a family farmand my mothers home that Im trying to take forwardas respectfully as I can. My brother has his own farmnext door.

The permanent staff are Lauri and his wife Jutta,and one non-family employee. In addition, eight ornine temporary workers help with seasonal work onthe fields and in the henhouse. Hantula, who hasa qualification in agricultural science, concentrateson his main work and leaves things like repairing

machinery to other professionals.

Atte Hermansson, 32, leases an organic andbiodynamic farm in Sipoos Majvik. He too gota taste of farming at an early age. When he was littlehis family moved to Kirkkonummi where his fatherstarted producing garden plants and barley ona small plot of land.

As an adult Hermansson worked in technology forabout a decade before realising he wanted a change.

He visited Majvik to find out more and when henoticed that a vocational school in Uusimaa wasoffering training courses in organic gardening, hisdecision was made. Hermansson was among the firstto graduate from the course this year, and he plans totake over the farm in his own name soon. He will movethere with his partner and two children in the spring.


In Finland in the 1940s,agriculture employed

about half the work force,today it employs fewer

than 4%.

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Atte Hermansson displays the fruits of his labour thatare for sale on his farm

No guaranteed holidayMajvik hosts a diversity of activities on its 20 hectaresof land. The main crop is potatoes, but the yield alsoincludes spelt, wheat, rye and many root vegetablesand herbs. Additionally, there are four cows anda calf in the cowshed. The work is mostly structured

according to the seasons: winter is for selling theprevious years crop, tending the forest and catchingup with todays indoor chores, in other words,paperwork. In spring nature awakens and with thatcomes ground preparations and seed sowing.

I liked the farms social side and its buzz, since mostlythe work here is powered by people. In the winter weget by on our own but in the spring we have manyinterns and volunteers, and even the customerssometimes lend a hand, Hermansson explains.

On Aittomki farm, the winter lull in agricultural workis used for additional training, for construction andrepair work and for seed care. The livestock side,in contrast, follows the same pattern through thewhole year. The day begins at around six in themorning with three or four hours of work.The afternoon consists of the same tasks of lookingafter the animals, and between these hours there istime for other activities. An evening check-up is doneat around nine.

Whatever the job, it would be good to havea holiday from time to time. Farming, however,is fundamentally a vocation where the calendar yearand the demands of the livestock set a very tightschedule. The pace of work in livestock managementis rather similar throughout the year, which is whya holiday and stand-in scheme has been devised.In practice it means that a farm relief worker takescare of the farm temporarily, giving the farmersfamily a break from work.

The idea is good, but the service could be improved.A lack of relief workers, and ensuring the requiredlevel of expertise, create significant challenges.

The relief worker who looks after the pigs comesto us via the municipality, but even though we putin our requests two years in advance, we seem not toget the relief at our preferred time. And if the reliefworker isnt familiar with the feeding machinery, youcant leave them alone with the pigs, Hantula says.

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Hermansson is also part of the holiday and stand-in scheme, but because of the many overlappingactivities that go on on the farm, it seems impossibleto find a competent stand-in for everything. Becausethere is so little livestock, the amount of relief servicestends to be small, despite the fact that there is plentyof agricultural work to be done throughout the year.

Daylight time is working time, always. Sundayswe try to keep free.

Shortly before the interview Hantula had takena fall on the ice and, due to a dislocated shoulder,for a while was not fit for work. Short periods of sickleave like this can be covered with the help of theusual workers, but over a longer time, the load onthem would be too much.

A farm in Finland; what does the future have in storefor the industry?

Reliant on subsidies and on natureThese days the market economy is pervasive, whichmeans that food production is concentrated.It is concentrated internally within a state but alsobetween countries. From time to time the questionis raised about whether it is worth practisingagriculture at all in the Nordic countries.

Thinking about the role of agriculture in Finlandin the 2010s, both interviewees agree that localproduction and some level of self sufficiency isa priority. This is important for coping with crises and

because of the increased cost of transport, amongother things. Domestic production is also somethingthat consumers value.

Hantula raises the point of respecting theenvironment as a precondition for producing not justa good quality crop, but ambitious quantities.

You have to work in balance with nature, and thatswhy I went for experimental farming. We haveachieved good results, and the greater the yield,

the easier it is to reduce nutrient loading in the soil,Hantula explains.

In practice the biodynamic farming practised byHermansson means organic farming with a fewextras; for example, paying more attention to closingthe cycle of nutrients within the farm. At Majvik thishas made it possible for the farm and the land area tostay the same for almost a hundred years. Their smalltractors are from years gone by, newer technologies,such as potato harvesters, are not used at all.

From time to time thequestion is raised about

whether it is worthpractising agriculture at

all in the Nordic countries.


The unPixie

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Meanwhile within conventional farming thedevelopment from the smallholding model to themodern and mechanised labour practices of the2000s, has been enormous. Even on Aittomki farmthe scale of operations is quite different from whatit used to be.

When this land was still in my parents hands in the1960s, it was 17 hectares of land and eight cows.Thats where it started. The whole time we have triedto keep up with developments, because if we dont,

things will go wrong, and that would bring the storyof this farm and this business to an end.

It was on this basis that the broiler-chicken businesswas started in 1986, with significant investmentsin the technology. At the moment expectations ofgrowth are focussed on the arable side. The farmmakes use, for instance, of precision agriculture,where a GPS-system on a tractor collects informationabout the fields. The data is collected ontoa computer, which automatically guides sowing and

the amount of fertiliser to be used on any part of theland. The system, which enhances profitability,is precise up to the scale of twenty square metres.

The direction of developments is largely dictated bythe broader economic framework.Without agricultural subsidies this work would notbe profitable in Finland. Though it certainly producesa lot of paperwork. I use about a day a week just forthat, Hantula says.

In the same vein Hermansson uses one fifth of eachworking day for filling forms. He has thought a lotabout the attractiveness of farming, because it islargely done on zero margins. At Majvik the proportionof subsidies is about half of the bottom line.Organic farming makes economic sense in Finland.Still, this year has been challenging because of thewet summer.

Both men have several ideas for developing the

system of subsidies. Hermansson has alreadydiscovered that a small organic farmers daily routinecan be difficult from time to time.

The daily auditing of the production cycle thatsrequired for organic inspection is really tough ona small producer, particularly since we do direct salesfrom the farm and because our range is so varied.The bureaucracy is a little too heavy and is boundto be a force that prevents many producers frommaking the shift to organic.

Hantula would change the way conventional farmsubsidies are allocated.

Subsidies should somehow also be directed atquantity. That way you would be rewarded for workthat aims at producing a better yield from the samearea of land.

The bureaucracy is a littletoo heavy and is boundto be a force that preventsmany producers frommaking the shiftto organic.Atte Hermansson

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Towards the futureAs the conversation shifts to expectations of thefuture, Lauri Hantula becomes thoughtful. He isworried about the future, which is influenced byso many factors. Today farming is a political hotpotato, and decisions that affect the sector areconstantly being made that pull it first this waythen that. Disagreements between the responsibledepartments also create headaches for agriculturalentrepreneurs, who find themselves between a rockand a hard place.

If we want there to be agriculture in Finland in thefuture, then the sector needs to be a more invitingoption in relation to other jobs. Even now it tends tobe difficult to find the entrepreneurs, and the worstnightmare scenario is that farmers will disappear.

Atte Hermansson also avoids complacent fantasiesabout the future; rather he sees it as a hugechallenge. Still, his choice of profession is notsomething he regrets.

I am confident, and certain that this will becomea sociable livelihood and a going concern as a farm.This is a way of life, where you are constantly meetingfriends, customers and neighbours, Hermanssonsums up.

Farming may be demanding work but its alsorewarding.

The best thing is when you walk into the open fieldsof Pohjanmaa just before harvest time. That smell ofa harvestable crop coming up from the beautifullywaving fields. These are things that you cant convertinto money, Hantula says.

Sources: Tilastokeskus Statistics Finland Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry,

Agricultural Statistics (www.maataloustilastot.fi)

Antti Mller is editor-in-chief of Vihre Tuuma, the online journal of

the Finnish Green foundation Visili.


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France: Epicentre of the malbouffe crisis

France: Epicentre ofthe malbouffe crisisThe changes to agriculture in post-warFrance have had a devastating impact on

the environment and on public health. Suchchanges were the product of international tradeagreements and big agri-business, meaningsolutions are unlikely to come from the top down.For Gandais and Lipietz, it must be local and smallproduces that come to the rescue.

Natalie Gandais

Alain Lipietz

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France is the largest agricultural power in theEuropean Union. UNESCO has promoted itsgastronomic heritage. And yet it is at the intersectionof two of its agrifood firms that the most recentscandal of globalised malbouffe (junk food) haserupted: lasagnes containing Romanian horsemeat,travelled via brokers in Holland and Cyprus and endedup in the deepfreezes of a Swedish firm in the UK.The scandal is all the more shocking when weconsider that that Spanghero, the company accusedof selling mislabelled horsemeat, comes from an

agricultural cooperative based in a good food paradise the Barn and the Basque Country regions ofFrance. Behind these scandals, there is a long processof degradation of French food, resulting from thedynamic of the liberal and productivist system in crisis.France is extremely representative of this crisis, whichhas taken the form of a food crisis in the countries ofthe Global South, and a health crisis of malbouffein Europe. How on earth did we end up here?

The industrialisation of foodAt the end of the Second World War, France rebuilt itsagricultural system along the lines of US agriculture:mechanisation and fixed specialisation betweencropland, sugar plants and breeding. The old mixedfarming unit was broken. The 1992 Blair HouseAgreement between the European Union and theUnited States condemned Europe to import proteinrich feed (soybean), which, mixed with corn, becamesoymeal, the basis of cattle feed.1

The result? Croplands, with more and more

fantastical yields, absorb staggering quantities ofwater, energy and chemical fertilisers. Livestockareas pollute the whole environment with a tide ofunusable nitrate-rich manure, all topped off with afog of pesticides that are carcinogenic, mutagenicand toxic to reproduction. Cancer rates in theseareas are equivalent to those of people living inheavily industrialised regions like the Ruhr Valley.The prevalence of Parkinsons disease among famerswho handle pesticides is twice as high as the nationalaverage.2This widespread pollution now affects

all consumers, despite the warnings of whistleblowers who face fierce denials and repression fromrepresentatives of the agricultural profession.

The industrialisation of agriculture, like all of theprevious steps in the history of rural France, wasmanaged by the profession, which for centuries hasenjoyed considerable clout in French politics.

1 http://gandais.net/spip.php?article45

2 http://www.upmc.fr/fr/recherche/pole_4/pesticides_un_facteur_de_risque_de_maladie_de_parkinson.html

The industrialisation ofagriculture, like all of

the previous steps in thehistory of rural France,

was managed by theprofession, which for

centuries has enjoyedconsiderable clout in

French politics.


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The young modernising and productivity-focusedfarmers of the 1950s often formed cooperatives and

jointly managed this mutation in cahoots with theState, at the expense of the majority of farmers andat the price of a violent rural exodus.

With the arrival of the neo-liberal 1980s thesecooperatives evolved into normal (i.e. carnivorous)agrifood businesses. Meanwhile, food distribution isconcentrated in a few globalised supermarket chainsthat retain a dominant market position and are able

to impose excessive industrialisation and fix prices.

This monopoly-holding agrifood bloc has profoundlymarked French diplomacy regarding the EuropeanUnion, leaving it ready to sacrifice all for a CommonAgricultural Policy that assures large subsidies notto working farmers, but for volume of food produced.This policy certainly assured Europes food securityand a reduced cost of food, but at the price of highdependence on imported energy and protein. At thecost, also, of malbouffe and its hidden costs to public

health. At the cost too, finally, of over-production,initially contained by export subsidies that were asruinous for European finances as they were for thefarmers of the Third World, until the 1990s, whenthe total amount of subsidies were frozen at a setlevel for each hectare of European land. This is theastonishing model that initiated, from 2006 onwards,the food component of the global crisis of liberalproductivism.

Food in the crisisFrance is a good example of this. Firstly, as in therest of the world, urbanisation has devoured goodagricultural land: a landmass equivalent to the size ofone French department is covered in concrete everyseven years. Then the remaining shrinking surfacearea is threatened by extreme climate incidents thatare themselves on the rise (the intense heat wave ofsummer 2003, the once in a thousand years stormsthat have decimated French forests, etc.). Finally, theremaining usable agricultural land is torn betweenfour necessary uses: the Food-Feed-Fuel-Forest

conflict. Production of food for human consumptionvies for first place with animal feed, and producinganimal protein needs ten times more space thatproducing plant protein does. Fuel accounts forbio-fuels, a productivist reaction to the climate andenergy crisis. In France, wheat, corn and rapeseedare increasingly diverted into the production offuel for cars. The most endangered use of land is forforest use - which symbolises the protection ofbio-diversity. In fact, France is unable to enforce theNatura 2000European program at all.

Chemicals and industrialisation have transformed howfood is produced, with profound consequences

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Finally, like in the rest of the world, food waste hasreached 40% in France. Food in France is discardedmostly at the agro-industrial and retail levels(to conserve optimum appearances and to simplifyinventory management) and at the consumer level(by over-purchasing in the supermarket, poor menudesign in canteens, the lost art of leftovers, etc.).Of course, the country remains such a food-exportinggiant that the downward trend of its per capita foodproduction has not caused famine! But, as in theUnited States, the poorest are finding that their income

no longer allows them to purchase healthy food.

At the end of 2011, according to a CSA poll, three-quarters of the French population had the feeling thattheir purchasing power had declined in recent months.As a consequence, 33% of them had consideredreducing their food budget, mostly by choosingdiscount products, those that grabbed their childrensattention: various highly-processed minerals, packagedin garishly bright colours, laden with salt, sugar andfats which add flavour and are addictive. Hence the

acceleration of obesity across all social classes, and themacabre cortege of diabetes, cardiovascular diseasesand cancers that accompanies it.

In reality, the obesity epidemic is the expressionof the industrialisation of food, and the persuasiveforce of the food industry and supermarkets(TV ad campaigns aired at primetime). Government

propaganda in favour of fruit and vegetables has onlyreduced its impact in the top 10% of high earners.One may wonder whether for the 90% of willingvictims of malbouffe it is an economic necessityor cultural fact. It is probably both.

Even before the beginning of the crisis, sociologistChristine Csar showed that if it were possible to eata perfectly balanced diet in France for 3.50a day, minimum wage recipients could only spend2.60 and, rationally, prioritised the most urgently

needed items: carbohydrates (bread, pasta) and fatsthat provide energy, but do not provide enoughto build their bodies.3A study on the link betweenobesity and supermarket selection (from the mostmiddle class to the most discount) shows astrong correlation between low cost and obesity inall classes, except for university-educated women,who frequent discount supermarkets and still feedthemselves wisely.4

The social inequalities of food-related ill health of are

not purely economic in origin. Admittedly, all thingsbeing equal, organic food is more expensive. Butit suffices to reduce excessive meat consumption tocreate balanced and healthy organic menus for thesame price. The food crisis is not a direct product ofpoverty; it is the product of a deadly system of foodproduction that manipulates consumer behaviourand habits to the detriment of their health.

3 http://www.inpes.sante.fr/slh/articles/396/05.htm4 http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0032908

A study on the linkbetween obesity and

supermarket selection(from the most middle

class to the mostdiscount) shows

a strong correlationbetween low cost and

obesity in all classes.


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The health crisisSome studies estimate that 30% of cancers couldbe avoided through better diet, 25% for avoidablecardiovascular diseases and up to 66% of diabetes.5In 2007, there were 2.5 million diabetic patients,an increase of almost 40% on the 2001 figure of1.8 million. Health care repayments for diabeticpatients amounted to 12.5 billion euros, or anincrease of 5.4 billion relative to 2001. They alonerepresent 9% of global health insurance expenditure.Each year, health insurance expenditure for the careof these patients increases by about one billion euros.

According to the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries,and Risk Factors Study 2010, deaths attributable tomalbouffe have now surpassed those who die fromhunger.6 But the cost of malbouffe on social securityexpenditure is not a negligible one in the sovereigndebt crisis. The cost of diabetes care represents 0.8%of French GDP. For care related to obesity: 2% ofGDP. And for the far more conventional health costsrelated to alcohol: 2.4% of GDP. This is while eachsuccessive austerity plan struggles to get government

deficits (including social security) below 3%!

ResistanceThe expression malbouffe was born from theconvergence between consumers who haverevolted, farmers who have resisted the model(farmers in small farmers unions like theConfdration paysanne and Coordination rurale) andenvironmentalists. The most emblematic expressionof this movement was Jos Bov! But today the issue

of malbouffe has invaded all forms of media.Not a week goes by without the release of yetanother documentary reporting on food waste orthe abnormalities of the agrifood system.

The likes of Jos Bov were once minority voicesin resisting industrial agriculture

A new development: the whistle blowers the

journalists, doctors, and agronomists havingpublished several books or alarmist documentariesnow publish advocacy tracts on how to get us out ofthis mess. The recipe is always the same: a return toorganic agriculture, which presupposes that on thesame budget that we will consume less meat: after allvegetarian lasagnas are better and just as nourishing! Insum, to return to the good old days of the classic Frenchmeals so beloved by UNESCO, even to perhaps changethe menu to a Cretan one (which will include, never

5 http://www.worldwatch.org/system/files/EWP150.pdf6 http://www.healthmetricsandevaluation.org/gbd/research/project/global-burden-diseases-injuries-and-risk-factors-study-2010

The expressionmalbouffe was bornfrom the convergencebetween consumers whohave revolted, farmerswho have resisted the

model farmers in smallfarmers unions like theConfdration paysanneand Coordination ruraleand environmentalists.

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Hungarian land-grabbing: family farmers vs. politically backed oligarchs

Foreign investors acquired at least 35 million hectaresof land in 66 countries over the past few yearsaccording to GRAIN, a non-profit organisation basedin Barcelona. So far, the phenomenon referred to asland-grabbing could be observed mostly in Africanand South American countries. The term usually refersto the acquisition of land by non-local actors whoexploit it with the aim of generating agricultural profitwithout regard to the interests of the local community(in particular small farmers) or the environment. In thisarticle I will focus on a variety of land-grabbing that is

currently occurring in Central and Eastern Europeanand has been largely overlooked by Western Europeanmedia and pressure groups.

While Western Europe often protects family farmsand strongly limits the maximum cultivable land size,the position of small producers struggling to makeends meet is becoming desperately vulnerable in thecountries that used to belong to the socialist EasternBlock, where democratic institutions and politicalculture are developing all too slowly and citizens

often stand powerless in the face of aggressivecapital interests. In what follows I focus on one crucialaspect of the transformation in the agriculturalsphere in the post-socialist period: the struggle forthe control of cultivable land.

There are important similarities in the way giantestates (frequently exceeding several thousandhectares) were created in Hungary, Romania, Slovakiaand Serbia. What is particular to Hungary is that theprocess I describe as land-grabbing is not drivenby foreign investors, since the purchase of land by

non-Hungarian citizens has been prohibited by amoratorium that does not expire until 2014. Thephenomenon that has given rise to increasing socialtensions in the Hungarian countryside is ratherbeing driven by national oligarchs who have forgedclose ties with the countrys political elite over thelast two decades. This narrow group has exploitedthese ties to acquire a significant part of the land fitfor profitable exploitation as well as the Europeanagricultural subsidies that accompany it.

The land belongs to those who work it at leastaccording to a political slogan that appearedthroughout the course of 20th century Hungarianhistory. It is based on this idea that the agriculturalpopulation was granted land ownership several timesover the last century. Despite this over the past 500years Hungarian farm structure has always beencharacterised by an opposition between dwarf andgiant estates. After the regime change of 1990 thelarge socialist cooperatives that had dominated thesector were dismantled, with the exception of a few.

State-owned farms were broken up and offered forpurchase or long-term land lease at a discount price.This procedure favoured actors who had access tocapital. These were typically not those who wereactually working the land but bankers and managers,who lived in the cities and used the land as aninvestment. The process therefore contributedto a decrease in the number of economic actorsoperating in the agricultural sector. More-and-more villages were deserted, the countrys food

self-sufficiency was damaged, and the farmingpopulation is ageing because fewer and fewer people

The phenomenonthat has given rise

to increasing socialtensions in the Hungarian

countryside is ratherbeing driven by national

oligarchs who haveforged close ties with the

countrys political eliteover the last two decades.


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go into agriculture (given the shortage of capital anduncertain conditions in the food-market). The resultof this process is what we call land concentrationwhich in Hungary translates into the strengtheningof duality (that is polarisation between dwarfs andgiants) in the agricultural sector as revealed by thefact that the average size of so-called large estatesin Hungary is one of the largest in Europe: about3,200 hectares.

The latest corrupt chapter

This complex set of problems could have been atleast partly mitigated through the leasing of land thatremained in the possession of the state. Faithful to itselection promises, the government elected in 2010published a tender for land lease with the professedaim of strengthening family farms. The schemewould have entitled small-scale producers andfamily farms to lease land for 20 years at relativelylow prices. Cheap long-term land lease could haveslowed the abandonment of villages, regeneratedlocal communities, while also curbing the expansion

of large-scale monoculture-based agriculture. Thesegoals, however, were not met in the end. The series ofscandals that erupted right after the announcementof the results of the first round of tenders showedthat, contrary to the governments promises, itsland lease project actually furthered the interestsof certain Hungarian agro-businessmen: those whoentertained good relations with the governing partyreceived significant swaths of land for 20 years.The new land lease legislation is full of loopholes.Tender applications are kept secret, no justificationis given for their rejection, big city dwellers are oftenpreferred to local inhabitants and one can easily

bypass land size limits provided they apply for anumpteenth piece of land in the name of a sibling ora spouse. Furthermore, candidates with applicationsthat are much weaker from a professional point ofview may nevertheless easily win because 40% of thescoring is awarded on the basis of subjective criteria.Practice has shown that legislation loopholes werequickly taken advantage of and land-grabbingis occurring at an accelerating pace.

Frustration and anger have by now replaced the

positive expectations that were widespread amongfarmers after the change of government. It is nocoincidence: many farmers feel that the rulingparty (Fidesz) betrayed them. Campaign promisespledged that land priority would be given to localfarming families and small and medium-sized farmsin hope that this would create more jobs in smallcommunities. The pledge was largely legitimisedthrough the personality of professor and unionactivist Jzsef ngyn who was nominated secretaryof state responsible for agriculture. Confronted with

the outcome of the first round of tenders and theimmediate eruption of scandals he decided to resignin protest and speak out against the push of thenational oligarchs.

This uncommon display of integrity and commitmentalso made an impact in the communities which hadbeen disadvantaged by the agro-business lobby.This was the case in Kajsz, a Transdanubian villagethat has since become a symbol of the abuses related

to the public land lease tenders. Local applicantfamily farmers received not a single inch of landfrom the pastures and arable fields surrounding

Cheap long-term landlease could have slowedthe abandonment ofvillages, regenerated localcommunities, while alsocurbing the expansion

of large-scalemonoculture-basedagriculture.

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their village. Instead, to the amazement of the localcommunity, a single candidate from another villagewon all 428 acres of public land without having anyfarming experience at all. Community membersturned to the relevant institutions to seek remedy,but their complaints echoed by journalists andmy own speeches in the Parliament were simplyignored. In response, Kajszs farmers decided toorganise themselves with the objective of ensuringlocal control of land and securing the rights offarmers in the new land law that is still in preparation.

Their tactics were inspired by Jos Bovs visit toKajsz that was carried out as a joint projectof the European and Hungarian Greens.In a symbolic land-seizing gesture the farmersploughed a stretch of the land that has been leased in their judgment, illegitimately to the winner ofthe tender and symbolically placed the land underthe authority of the local farmers council. Besidesthis, they encouraged other farmers in the country toestablish local farmers councils of their own. In orderto efficiently represent their interests they founded

the grassroots Association of Farmers Councils, withthe main objective of enabling small-scale producersto stand up for their own interests in an organisedmanner. The new farmers organisation intends toensure that the government develops a new tenderstructure for public land lease with the participationof farmers so that local producers will really meanresidents of the local community as opposed to peopleliving as far as 20 kilometres away (possibly in anothervillage or town). These demands were echoed in the

amendments I proposed to the land law.

Dialogue for Hungary MP Rebeka Szab protestingagainst land-grabbing

As a result of the land-grabbing I described abovea significant part of agricultural land in Hungary isnow concentrated in the hands of a small numberof individuals and interest groups. The astonishinglyhigh concentration characterising both access toland and agricultural subsidies has been publicisedby the site www.farm subsidy.org. A quick browse

reveals that the three largest agricultural interestgroups received an astonishing 10 billion HUF (app.35 million) in subsidies in 2011. The website alsoshows that one of these (Boly Ltd., belonging to OTPBank President and CEO Sndor Csnyi) received thesecond largest direct agricultural subsidy in the EUsince 2008: an amount of 15,549,278.

Large land proprietors employ only one-sixthof agricultural workers. While they extract

approximately 500 billion HUF (1,75 billion) annually

In a symbolic land-seizinggesture the farmers

ploughed a stretch of theland that has been leased

in their judgment,illegitimately to the

winner of the tender andsymbolically placed the

land under the authorityof the local farmers

council.


LMP

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from the agricultural sector, they only minimallyengage in value-added commodity productionand leave behind an excessive ecological footprint.Moreover, the half a dozen large landowners who(as the land lease tenders clearly show) control thecountrys agriculture can more easily evade taxation,as revealed by the case of Mr. Csnyi, who accordingto media reports channels significant portions ofthis income into Singapore, a well-known tax haven.It is because of these reasons that I see the currenttrends and structures as unsustainable from an

environmental, economic and social point of view.

A growing resistanceAt present it is difficult to respond with optimism tothe question regarding the chances of an ecologicallyand socially sustainable agriculture in Hungary. Alongwith 141 environmental and conservation NGOs,farmers associations with pro-government affiliationshave signed a position paper that urges, amongother demands, acceptance of the amendmentsof PM (Dialogue for Hungary) and making the

land law, presently favouring large estates, moresustainable. Though the debate on the new law isstill under way the prospects are rather dim. Thepresent proposal could only be safeguarded from theinfluence of oligarchs if the majority of the proposedamendments will be adopted the chances of whichare limited in light of parliamentary mathematicsand the governing parties well-documentedreticence to change their stance in response tograssroots concerns. Nonetheless, the Hungarian

government has got itself into a situation where itwill have to fight on two fronts. While small-scaleproducers will continue to push for the protection oftheir livelihoods, large land owners will criticise thegovernment on the grounds that the land law underconstruction could ruin large estates (and that thiswill also hurt the government because agriculturalexports will decline). While this collision of interestswas unavoidable from the start the governmentcould have avoided the current tensions (andretained its credibility) if it had used its two-thirds

majority to draw up an implementable strategyrather than silently boycotting the reforms proposedby Jzsef ngyn.

The fact that the farmers started to organise andthat cracks are beginning to appear in the formerlymonolithic block of the right-wing ruling parties areencouraging signs. As delegates of PM Dialoguefor Hungary, our job is to stand up for the interestsof the family farmers and ecological principles. Thebattle can only be won if the support of the public

is secured for this, however, we need even thosewhose income is not dependent on agriculture tounderstand what the stakes are: the security of thefood supply, the sustainability of the countryside,and thus the future of the whole country.

Rebeka Szab is a Member of the Hungarian Parliament for PM

Dialogue for Hungary

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Greens and farmers: the new alliance

Greens and farmers:the new allianceThe Greens want to change the trajectory of theCAP to make European agriculture greener as

this is the only way in which it will have a future.An urgent and long-term project against theconservative agribusiness model, and one whichshould be developed in cooperation with the firstpeople affected: the farmers. Interview withJos Bov, Greens/EFA MEP.

Jos Bov

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GEJ: In Europe there has, without a doubt, neverbeen such a broad consensus on the need totransform agriculture and change our eating

habits. However, there is very strong resistanceto change from the agribusiness model. How doyou explain this paradoxical situation?

Bov: There is a wide gap between European citizensand policy-makers. Even though the Commission,the Member States, and the vast majority of theParliament are largely conservative when it comes

to agriculture, all of the opinion polls suggest thatconsumers feel quite the opposite. More than 75%of people reject GMOs and the majority prefer localfood supply chains, high-quality products, agriculturethat is respectful of the environment, and supportfor small and medium-sized farms. The majority ofconsumer and environmental organisations sharethis sentiment. In July 2009 a meeting organised bythe European Agricultural Commissioner resulted ina broad consensus that the direction of agricultureshould be changed. The Commissioner also used this

meeting as an occasion to propose a transformationof the CAP. However, the conservatives committedto the agribusiness model continue to dominate theCommission. The agribusiness model is also defendedby large retailers and organisations of industrialproducers such as COPA-COGECA. And the MemberStates take the same stance also. Their reasoning forthis is solely based on market shares; not at all onland development, the preservation of farmers, orlistening to consumers demands.

They are completely out of step with public opinion.They neither understand how to act nor respondwhen faced with health or food crises. Today, for

example, they are trying to get permission from theEU to introduce GMOs into the supply chain or allowthe sale of cloned meat at a European level.This would be catastrophic.

GEJ: What are the most important points in thedebate surrounding the future of the CAP?

Bov:There are four key points. Firstly, the CAP hasto be legitimate. We have to put our money in theright hands. Will we be able to reduce wastage from

the distribution of direct aid? The Greens want tocap subsidies at 100,000 per farm. This would onlyaffect 3 in 4000 farms out of a total of 12 million inthe EU. However, the Council and the conservativeswithin the European Parliament refuse to accept thisas illustrated recently by the European Parliamentsposition adopted on 13 March 2013. Our secondtest: will we be able to distribute the aid equally tosmall farmers and continue to support farms whosetotal amount of land makes up less than the nationalaverage? The third, very important point, is the

idea of greening. The CAP should combat globalwarming, the deterioration of soil and water, andthe weakening of biodiversity. It should also reducethe agricultural trade deficit within the EU. Themeasure proposed by the Greens is a crop rotationto: encourage the predominance of vegetableproteins which fix nitrogen from the air, use fewerfertilisers and pesticides, and reduce soya importsfrom North and South America. Unfortunately, mostof these forward-looking elements - and the crop

rotation measure in particular - have been rejectedby the European Parliament, under the influence of aconservative majority.

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GEJ: Would it not be both logical and commonsense to make savings in the CAP budget which stillaccounts for almost 40% of the European budget?

Bov: The scandal is not that the CAP makes up 40%of the budget of the EU; it is that the budget of the EUonly represents 1% of European GDP! The CAP budgetaccounts for less than 0.5% of the GDP in the EU.For a policy that remains essential for our future,this is a ridiculous amount when you compare it withthe likes of the US or Brazil. However, the Councils

proposal would imply an 11% reduction of the budget.The first pillar which accounts for 80% of funds andfinances direct aid would be affected less than thesecond pillar where necessary cuts would have to bemade. However, the latter is responsible for financingthe entire rural development and land support policy,as well as all incentives associated with greening.In other words, the agribusiness lobby will have won.

Greens/EFA Jos Bov has been to the forefrontof campaigns for greener, more local and moresustainable food production

GEJ: Should the Greens not be making moreof an issue of this?

Bov:The Greens have always been the first todenounce health scandals. In France, I called fora boycott of farmed fish which were not labelled asbeing meat-and-bone meal free. But perhaps weneed something spectacular. A political movementcannot gain legitimacy without taking risks. In anycase, when it comes to voting on the budget, increasedpressure must be exerted on the MEPs, particularly

online.

GEJ: When faced with the current crisis, are issuessurrounding the quality of food really still onthe agenda? Certain people, such as the GermanMinister for Development Dirk Niebel, are callingfor ready-made meals containing horse meatto be given to the poor.

Bov:It is the very same people who are makingsuch shameful demands that are also opposed to

informing people about what is in the food they areeating. Who decides to reduce the aid given to themost vulnerable of our society by more than a billion?The Council! Today, one of the main challenges ingiving aid to the most vulnerable of our society, isnot only to increase the volume, but also to shortenthe supply chains so that support comes from theirclosest producers. In France, networks have alreadybeen established between solidarity food stores andfarmers in difficulty who receive both an outlet for

their produce and guaranteed remuneration;a portion of the CAP subsidies could go towards this.

Ernest Morales


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which are based in France.1In exchange, Moroccanfarmers have to endure their market being openedfor cereals, meat and dairy products. Furthermore,a portion of these tomatoes are produced bypumping from deep non-renewable water tableswhich are located in Western Sahara. Whats more,the risk is so great that discussions relating to a freetrade agreement between Europe and the US areexerting intense pressure on European agriculturalstandards, whether these relate to GMOs, pesticides,patents, or health standards. The Commission

has made already its first concession by allowingcattle carcasses treated with lactic acid to enter theEU. Tomorrow, it will be chlorine to clean chickencarcasses and who knows what else.

GEJ: We know that we must question free trademechanisms if we want to successfully re-localiseproduction and pave the way towards a form offood sovereignty. But is this really possible?

Bov:I find that the free trade model for agriculture

and food regularly reveals its own flaws. Effects ofglobal warming such as the pressure on food prices,particularly for countries in the South, will sooner orlater pose a real problem. Furthermore, many largecountries such as China, India and Indonesia do notask questions and want to preserve their agriculture.They all have a stake in it. An agricultural and foodcrisis therefore lies ahead of us. The pressure is goingto become stronger and stronger. But there will comea time when things start to regulate themselves,

at least if European citizens lobby for a re-localisationof production. If we continue to fight for foodsovereignty, local trade, and local supply chains,whether this is for the environment, food, or society,this will move us in the right direction.

GEJ: Is this challenge not fundamentally a culturalone? Should we not be doing everything we canto support food as a cultural phenomenon?

Bov:On a political level, we defend the idea that

European culture is a common ideal shared by allEuropeans. But we accredit this culture to arts such asmusic, literature or cinema, and cuisine is overlooked.Yet for me, this was the very first expression ofculture, even before the birth of literature. Longbefore people even began painting on cave walls,the ways in which people ate and started to cookfood gave rise to a culture of taste which hasdeveloped ever since. Today, this culture representsa phenomenal wealth of different cuisines. Europehas the greatest culinary diversity in the world.

But this part of our culture is not as valued as itshould be. There are, of course, networks of activistssuch as slowfood and others, but it is importantthat citizens now reclaim this culture. We need todispel the idea that food solely serves the purposeof satisfying a biological need. One thing that isessential when it comes to food, aside from thecultural aspect that I have already mentioned, isbeing able to enjoy it with others. Mealtimes arewhere relationships are forged; a time for us to

1 www.lindependant.fr/2013/01/23/l-accord-ue-maroc-sur-les-tomates-fche-la-france-et-l-espagne,1720786.php

The Commission hasmade already its first

concession by allowingcattle carcasses treatedwith lactic acid to enter

the EU. Tomorrow, it

will be chlorine to cleanchicken carcasses andwho knows what else.


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come together. And this is the same in almost everycountry. The problem nowadays is that peopleaccept junk food as part of their daily diet, but arestill happy to splash out for special occasions. In theUS, for example, the most important celebration isnot Independence Day but Thanksgiving. Americanscelebrate this day a day on which the first settlersstruggled to survive without food and were taughthow to grow their own food by Indians by cookinga feast. It is very surprising to see a country such asthe US which we view as being so different from

our culture, dedicating a day of celebration to theenjoyment of food.

Eating as a social, communal experience is on the wayout, with consequences for how we see food

GEJ: Can you imagine there being a European dayto celebrate food?

Bov: Im not sure that it would work by creatingsuch a day on artificial premises. On the other hand,I believe that making a real effort to develop thecultural and political aspects is important. A numberof initiatives already exist but perhaps we need tocombine these on a European level. It is clear that thereare very strong cultural differences within the EU today.These differences also shine through in the European

Parliament when it comes to debate surrounding theissue of food; people look at you in astonishment whenyou defend good food. Funnily enough, they are oftenthe same people who dine in restaurants. But theydisassociate the biological need from the festive, socialand cultural aspects of food. I believe that we have toreunite these two dimensions.

Liz

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Getting a taste for it

Getting a tastefor itIn the Netherlands, one organisation is makinga breakthrough in encouraging a better

relationship between people the food.The secret start young. An interview withEsther Boukema, founder of De Smaak te Pakken(Getting a Taste for it)

Esther Boukema

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Around nine years ago, the Amsterdam graphicdesigner Esther Boukema developed a mobile culinarylaboratory where children could learn, hands-on,everything about food flavours, colours, where itcomes from and when its in season. She erected herround tent-kitchen on public squares and empty plots,mainly in deprived urban areas. The tent would usuallysoon be swarming with curious children, who wouldemerge shortly afterwards bearing various tidbitsand morsels to surprise their proud parents with theirculinary efforts and new-found knowledge. She later

added a more serious teaching programme for primaryschoolchildren, to be carried out with her team inschool gardens. This initiative, titled DeSmaak te Pakken(Getting a Taste for It), enjoyed growing recognition,and now forms part of a collaboration called Mijn eten(My Food). The latter integrated educational projectaims to make nutrition a systematic part of theprimary curriculum.

Meijers: Who, in your view, is responsible for whatpeople eat?

Boukema:Im always strongly in favour of a right toself-determination, and I think we should respectparents own preferences even if we dont share them.But the individual doesnt live in isolation from thecommunity. Without a good breakfast, a child cantdo well at school.

Nutrition is a particular area where individual choicesare strongly bound up with social phenomena likespeed, convenience, individualism, instant foods andtiny kitchens. Concern for nutrition inevitably declines

when fast food is available wherever people go.This tends to discourage cooking at home.Knowledge about healthy eating is often couched interms like calcium and omega-3, instead of appealingto common sense. In other words, the knowledgethat a varied diet full of fresh, recognisable naturalfoods, together with moderation and plenty ofexercise, is often enough to fight diet-relatedproblems like obesity, heart disease and cloggedarteries. Food is an industry dominated by powerfulbusiness interests which are often at odds with this

mentality. It says a lot that the Chinese CEO of a soft-drinks corporation tops the world income list.

Peoples taste and dietary preferences are largelydetermined before they are old enough to choose forthemselves. There is a huge worldwide diversity infamily standards and values regarding food. Nutritionis therefore an accessible topic (everyone eats food)but a complicated one, lacking ready-made answerson the responsibilities of the individual and of societyas a whole.

Meijers: It sounds as though our choicesare limited.

Boukema: You may indeed wonder how far we reallyhave free choice about what we eat. The borderline ofself-determination lies, in my view, with those parentswho bring up children eating too much, too little orunsuitable food; and when the child becomes ill asa result, they expect the public sector to foot the bill.

By that time, it is often too late to prevent permanenthealth damage anyway. Curing obesity is much more

Nutrition is a particulararea where individualchoices are stronglybound up with socialphenomena likespeed, convenience,

individualism, instantfoods and tiny kitchens.

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Principles of DeSmaak te Pakkenin primaryeducation

Establishing a link between Nature and thehuman body.

Attentively preparing food together, becausefood can be a way of expressing careand affection towards others.

Making acquaintance with fresh, recognisablylocal ingredients, with supplementary productsfrom non-local sources.

Learning language, concepts and words byexperiencing them in practice.

Cooking and philosophising on themes such ashunger, obesity, impermanence,sustainability and fair trade.

Reduce stress by learning focus, patience andprecision.

Boosting childrens personal creativity by playingwith shape, colour and flavour.

Interview conducted by Erica Meijers, who is editor-in-chief of the

Dutch Green Journal de Helling and is a member of the editorialboard of the Green European Journal.

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From the Common Agricultural Policy to Sustainable Food Systems

From the CommonAgricultural Policy

to Sustainable

Food SystemsOn March 13th the European Parliament (EP), nowco-legislator on agricultural and budgetary issues,adopted its position on redesigning the CAP.A period of intense negotiations opens-upbetween the Council of the EU and the EP. But thecomplete shift of the CAP towards an ecologicaltransformation of agriculture is now very unlikelyto take place. This will not prevent the Greens andother progressive actors to continue to preparethis transition. If the CAP cant change, can we?

Louise Knops

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During centuries, the symbol of a societys progressand evolution was its industrial character and itsmove away from agriculture. Yet, in the aftermathof World War 2, Europeans realised the strategicimportance of maintaining a strong agriculturesector; to feed its own people, but also to reacha certain level of self-sufficiency vis--visthe restof the world. As a result, the emerging EuropeanCommunity massively invested in communalisingall agricultural models across the continent andsupported them through strong intervention

mechanisms (fixed prices, quotas, export subsidies,import tariffs, etc.).

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the first realsymbol of European integration, was born. Today,somewhat paradoxically, after being des-investedand discarded for centuries, agriculture is startingto be re-associated with progress; it is being lookedupon as one of the key sectors that will contributeto a new economic, social and ecological paradigm.Farming is being re-introduced in cities, arable land

is becoming an increasingly scarce and thereforevaluable resource, and the agricultural sector sits atthe crossroads of the industrial, social and territorialrevolution of our century. In times when citizens areasked to re-connect with their natural environment,farmers are in a strategic position to work withnature, rather than against it.

However, despite the overall sense of urgency in theface of current challenges, there is still a long way togo before the actors of the agricultural sector takefull possession of the new role society has assignedto them. Unfortunately, and to the Greens greatdisappointment, the on-going CAP reform is notgoing to facilitate this process, rather the opposite.The recently adopted position of the EuropeanParliament confirms the conservative and resistant-to-change character of the CAP

A highly unequal, inefficient, unsustainablepolicy: a difficult childSince its last reform in 2003, the CAP has beenunder increasing criticism and scrutiny from theEuropean taxpayer. The inequalities of paymentsbetween old Member States (average 2010 paymentof 7 4861) and new Member States (average 2010payment of 1 5522), but also within the farmerscommunities revealed the highly unfair characterof what is supposed to be a farmers supportpolicy. The economic evidence also pointed to

the fundamentally inefficient system of support inplace, which increases the value of land, rather thansignificantly contributing to the farmers income.3Food scares highlighted the inability of the CAPto track down fraud and enforce efficient foodtraceability, and the environmental degradationdirectly linked to the CAP (loss of biodiversity, soil,air & water pollution, etc) confirmed its largelyunsustainable character.

1 http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/funding/directaid/distribution_en.htm. See also, AGRAFACTS No15-12, 22.02.2012.2 http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/funding/directaid/distribution_en.htm. See also, AGRAFACTS No15-12, 22.02.2012.3 As payments are calculated per hectare or land, and based on the level of production during a year of reference, they have been increasingly

capitalised into land values, instead of going towards farmers incomes.

Today, somewhatparadoxically, afterbeing des-invested anddiscarded for centuries,agriculture is starting tobe re-associated withprogress; it is beinglooked upon as one ofthe key sectors that willcontribute to a neweconomic, social andecological paradigm.

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Finally, the competition bias towards larger actors ofthe supply chain, at the expense of smaller producers,the obsession of being competitive on world marketsrather than optimising the European potential(e.g. through quality labels, promotion policy, etc.),and many other fundamental flaws in the CAPstructure and implementation, have all significantlydarkened the image of this public policy in the eyesof European citizens. Yet, many stakeholders anddecision-makers from opposite sides of the politicalspectrum fight to death to keep the CAP alive.

Resistance to change: why the CAP wont grow upAs the first child of European integration, there isa very strange and sometimes not very rational relationship between the CAP and its conceivers.Despite their most dreadful mistakes in designingthe CAP, and despite the latters resistance to change,Europeans dont seem ready to let it go. Perhaps,because you just dont give up on food. The Greensstill hope that this huge amount of money (currently40% of the EU budget, and 373,179 million for the

period 2014-20204) could be re-directed towardssustainable farming, that these funds could servethe transition that our agricultural systems crave for;that they could finally support the farmers who reallyneed it. Who? The small farmers who havent blindlyfollowed the industrial path but who keep our ruralareas alive; the farmers who produce more than food;

the farmers whose products are not currently soldat their real production costs; the farmers who cantcompete with Chinese powder milk but who we stillneed in our countryside; farmers who want to changebut are trapped in the vicious circle of economies ofscale; young farmers, urban farmers, and many more.

The Greens still fight for this policy to be maintained,but in a fundamentally different way; froma production policy to an all-compassing foodpolicy, re-connecting producers and consumers.

On the other side of the spectrum, the conservativepolitical forces also want to keep the CAP alive, with,they hope, as little change as possible. They fightfor keeping a system in place, which has largelybenefitted landowners and strong agriculturalcorporations, at the expense of the environment,our rural areas and our health.

In broad terms, the content of the CAP reformpackage embodies an archaic and productivist visionof agriculture, inherited from the post-World-War

II period, but which is far from responding to thechallenges of the 21st Century. Nevertheless, beyondthe disappointment, and because of the far-reachingimplications of agriculture for the entire society, thereis hope that farmers and citizens will operate theirown change.

4 Figure based on the Council conclusions of 8.02.2013 on the new Multiannual Financial Framework (2014-2020). These figures are still subject tochange, as the European Parliament has not yet adopted its position.

Despite their mostdreadful mistakes in

designing the CAP,and despite the latters

resistance to change,Europeans dont seem

ready to let it go.


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Campaigners for CAP reform pictured with Greens/EFA MEP Bas Eickhout. Though the need for reform isobvious, many conservative and agribusiness lobbyistsare working to maintain the status quo

If the CAP cant change, can we?Re-shifting the financial resources allocated to theCAP (over 373.179 million for the period 2014-20205)towards the transformation of our food systemswould of course make a significant contribution to

the ecological transition of our economies. The factthat this

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