‘Everyone disappointed’. ‘European
Parliament votes for de-greening CAP’. The headlines tell the truth: the
new CAP will not look very green. But what does this actually mean? And what
can we (consumers) do to support a ‘green farmer’.
At first I might need to introduce the CAP, or Common
Agricultural Policy, created by the European Commission 50 years ago. It served
to make sure we Europeans could all eat for a reasonable price while the
farmers where paid a decent ‘wage’ for the work they did each year. Over the
years this dream ended up in something which you could call a disaster; many
products were in excess and thus prices went down a long way.
But mankind learned from its mistakes and step by step the
CAP became a policy which helped consumer and producers to live a normal life.
Sort of, because the CAP has (for example) caused the sugar being really cheap and – with some
steps in between - this has caused the problems with obese people these days.
You can find more detailed information on the history of this policy on this website.
And now it’s 2013, the year in which the CAP reforms are
prepared. One of the aims of many was to reform the policy in such a way that
we all would profit: the farmer a beautiful farm with an honest income, the
animal and the plants a healthier life and the consumers quality food grown in
adorable environments. But last week this dream has come to a sudden end. The
European Parliament has carefully listened to a group of lobbyists which
apparently had convincing arguments to vote against the de-greening of the new
policy.
So what’s in it and what’s not? Instead of seven percent ecological
focus (‘unused farmland’) we will only get three percent of free-
growing-nature (going up to seven percent only in 2018). So less space for the
bees and more room for food production. Another important measure not executed
will be the mandatory crop rotation. Less rotation means more monocultures so
less diversity in the landscape and the flora and fauna.
Luckily Europe is a democracy. And even that our voices were
not heard during the CAP votes, we could do other things to make our
environment better and the quality of our food higher.
As it is not done with our tax payments we could do it directly while doing our
shopping or when going out for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Choose local food,
if possible grown organically. Make sure that your local bar or restaurant
makes the same choices as you do at home. Ask him when in doubt. And if you
really want to be sure about the origin of your food or want to contribute to
diversity: Green it Yourself.
