CAP REFORM

EUROPEAN COMMISSION TO PUBLISH PLANS FOR CAP REFORM - UK RESPONSE DEEPLY INADEQUATE

A draft new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) being published by the European Commission today (Wednesday 12 October) is likely to leave British farmers hooked on factory farming that is wrecking rainforests and increasing food prices, Friends of the Earth is warning.
Leaked EU documents seen by the green campaigning charity show that Europe is failing to make the important policy changes needed to support farmers investing in sustainable farming practices, and end the need for environmentally damaging imports of soy to feed animals in our factory farms.
Friends of the Earth says Britain is blocking progress on CAP reform by standing in the way of plans to ensure farm subsidies are fair and encourage planet-friendly farming.
The green campaigning charity is calling on the Government to support measures that will stop UK farming depleting natural resources and climate-changing fossil fuels, provide fair incomes for British farmers, and reduce the UK's impact on volatile global food prices - currently so high that some of the world's poorest can't afford to eat.
Friend of the Earth's food campaigner Kirtana Chandrasekaran said:
"These EU proposals will keep factory farming propped up with billions of pounds in taxpayers' money every year - with devastating consequences for rainforests, the climate and some of the world's poorest people.
"The UK's refusal to support plans to cap the amount of money paid to Europe's biggest farms will turn landowners into subsidy millionaires - and leave smaller, greener farmers to survive on scraps.
"The Government must support measures to boost planet-friendly farming and encourage British farmers to produce local animal feed - anything less risks a future of rising food prices, climate emissions and the loss of precious wildlife."