SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
A farm in Belgium. (Photo: Simon Blackley/flickr/cc)
To Upend Failed Paradigm, Hundreds of Experts Converge in EU to Forge Blueprint for Sustainable Food System
"We need a fundamental transition to sustainable food and farming systems," says Olivier De Schutter
May 30, 2018
Hundreds of food and farming experts converged in Brussels this week to flush out what they're calling a blueprint for a Common Food Policy--a set of proposals they hope will push the European Union towards a sustainable food system.
"We need a fundamental transition to sustainable food and farming systems," said Olivier De Schutter, co-chair of International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food) and former U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food. "We need shifts in food production, processing, retail, and consumption to occur at the same time. And we need a clear direction of travel at EU level. That is why we need a Common Food Policy."
The massive gathering was the EU Food and Farming Forum, convened by IPES-Food, which featured De Schutter as well as key figures in the movement including Carlo Petrini, president and founder of Slow Food; documentary filmmaker Marie-Monique Robin; and Transition movement founder Rob Hopkins.
Driving the need for the new framework, organizers say, are current failed policies that: ignore soil degradation; take aim at obesity while ignoring its root causes; encourage trade in carbon-intensive practices; and fail to fully support smaller farms.
The new blueprint is meant to serve as a "plan B" to the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the latest version of which will be rolled out Friday. De Schutter argues that the reformed CAP is sure to fall short, while the Common Food Policy instead offers a "way to circumvent the limitations of the CAP debate and keep sight of the bigger picture: an urgently needed transition to sustainable food and farming policies."
"The main problem with the CAP is that it is still an agricultural policy in name and nature," De Schutter added, while it also fails to include input from "a wider range of actors."
That input, though, was highlighted during the forum, with various speakers calling for a new system based on high quality food, cooperation, food sovereignty, closing the gap between food producers and consumers, and valuing all stakeholders within the food system. Other speakers included local leaders talking about their municipalities' successes with food system change, and Paul McCartney even made an appearance via video to stress the environmental benefits of eating less meat.
With the forum now in the rear-view mirror, the key question now, as De Schutter asked, is What comes next?
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Hundreds of food and farming experts converged in Brussels this week to flush out what they're calling a blueprint for a Common Food Policy--a set of proposals they hope will push the European Union towards a sustainable food system.
"We need a fundamental transition to sustainable food and farming systems," said Olivier De Schutter, co-chair of International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food) and former U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food. "We need shifts in food production, processing, retail, and consumption to occur at the same time. And we need a clear direction of travel at EU level. That is why we need a Common Food Policy."
The massive gathering was the EU Food and Farming Forum, convened by IPES-Food, which featured De Schutter as well as key figures in the movement including Carlo Petrini, president and founder of Slow Food; documentary filmmaker Marie-Monique Robin; and Transition movement founder Rob Hopkins.
Driving the need for the new framework, organizers say, are current failed policies that: ignore soil degradation; take aim at obesity while ignoring its root causes; encourage trade in carbon-intensive practices; and fail to fully support smaller farms.
The new blueprint is meant to serve as a "plan B" to the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the latest version of which will be rolled out Friday. De Schutter argues that the reformed CAP is sure to fall short, while the Common Food Policy instead offers a "way to circumvent the limitations of the CAP debate and keep sight of the bigger picture: an urgently needed transition to sustainable food and farming policies."
"The main problem with the CAP is that it is still an agricultural policy in name and nature," De Schutter added, while it also fails to include input from "a wider range of actors."
That input, though, was highlighted during the forum, with various speakers calling for a new system based on high quality food, cooperation, food sovereignty, closing the gap between food producers and consumers, and valuing all stakeholders within the food system. Other speakers included local leaders talking about their municipalities' successes with food system change, and Paul McCartney even made an appearance via video to stress the environmental benefits of eating less meat.
With the forum now in the rear-view mirror, the key question now, as De Schutter asked, is What comes next?
Hundreds of food and farming experts converged in Brussels this week to flush out what they're calling a blueprint for a Common Food Policy--a set of proposals they hope will push the European Union towards a sustainable food system.
"We need a fundamental transition to sustainable food and farming systems," said Olivier De Schutter, co-chair of International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food) and former U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food. "We need shifts in food production, processing, retail, and consumption to occur at the same time. And we need a clear direction of travel at EU level. That is why we need a Common Food Policy."
The massive gathering was the EU Food and Farming Forum, convened by IPES-Food, which featured De Schutter as well as key figures in the movement including Carlo Petrini, president and founder of Slow Food; documentary filmmaker Marie-Monique Robin; and Transition movement founder Rob Hopkins.
Driving the need for the new framework, organizers say, are current failed policies that: ignore soil degradation; take aim at obesity while ignoring its root causes; encourage trade in carbon-intensive practices; and fail to fully support smaller farms.
The new blueprint is meant to serve as a "plan B" to the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the latest version of which will be rolled out Friday. De Schutter argues that the reformed CAP is sure to fall short, while the Common Food Policy instead offers a "way to circumvent the limitations of the CAP debate and keep sight of the bigger picture: an urgently needed transition to sustainable food and farming policies."
"The main problem with the CAP is that it is still an agricultural policy in name and nature," De Schutter added, while it also fails to include input from "a wider range of actors."
That input, though, was highlighted during the forum, with various speakers calling for a new system based on high quality food, cooperation, food sovereignty, closing the gap between food producers and consumers, and valuing all stakeholders within the food system. Other speakers included local leaders talking about their municipalities' successes with food system change, and Paul McCartney even made an appearance via video to stress the environmental benefits of eating less meat.
With the forum now in the rear-view mirror, the key question now, as De Schutter asked, is What comes next?
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.
To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good.
News & Opinion
Trending
Common Dreams, Inc. Founded 1997. Registered 501(c3) Non-Profit
Privacy Policy