Feeding the beast27 April 2009
Our new research (PDF† 84KB) reveals that over £700 million of taxpayers' money is spent funding factory-farming each year.
Our taxes are supporting an industry that wipes out rainforests and increases climate-changing gases in the atmosphere.
Where does the money come from?
The report - Feeding the beast (PDF† 84KB) - highlights the way that EU subsidies are used to prop-up big factory farms.
These factory farms are responsible for driving demand for imported protein for animal feed.
To grow this feed huge areas of forest have to be cleared to make way for vast plantations.
Small farms continue to suffer
The subsidies, which form part of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), are meant to provide support for agriculture.
But while huge factory farms rake in subsidies, small farms are still in decline. Four thousand jobs are lost from farming each year.
Funding is urgently needed to save these farms.
Government must call for an overhaul of the CAP. We want to see:
- Increased support for small-scale producers.
- Investment in home-grown feeds to replace imports.
- More money for farming that delivers for the environment and society.
Fix the Food Chain
Planet-friendly farming is possible, but the Government needs to change the system.
MPs listen when thousands of their voters get behind Friends of the Earth's campaigns - so please ask your MP to fix the food chain today.
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