Major farming reform plans released14 October 2011
Politicians rewriting the script for farming and food production in Europe have released the first news about their plans.
They contain some good news for green campaigners, but need a lot of improving to enable us to feed ourselves without destroying rainforests and harming communities in developing countries.
What's happening?
Politicians are overhauling rules about farming in Europe (known as the Common Agricultural Policy or CAP).
Currently, the CAP props up factory farming, contributing to:
- Rainforest deforestation
- Climate-changing emissions
- High food prices
A large part of the problem is due to our target=_self>importing of soy to feed factory farmed animals.
Friends of the Earth supporters have been campaigning hard to make sure the new rules are up to scratch.
Campaigning has paid off
The plans released yesterday include some measures to:
- Support farmers to grow alternative animal feeds to soy
- Encourage farmers to plant varied crops - good for wildlife, the climate and soil
- Limit funding for big farms - often the worst for the environment
- Provide support for small farms - important to rural communities
But they're far too weak to make a real difference. And the plans don't address other key problems.
Not so good
In particular, the current plans don't do enough to:
- Reduce our damaging imports of soy
- Stop European farming's devastating impacts on developing countries
- Help farmers shift to planet-friendly farming
- Deal with rising food prices
Get involved - a crucial few months
Euro MPs and the UK Farming Minister will be involved in fine-tuning these proposals. Friends of the Earth will be campaigning hard to make sure they back our demands. And we need your help.
To take action to support our campaign, please sign up for free to Real Food News.
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