Agricultural and Rural Convention - ARC2020

The Trojan Horse of Simplification

On the back of yet another green light for a fresh batch of ‘simplification’ plans, ARC2020’s Natasha Foote explores how deep ...
Agricultural and Rural Convention - ARC2020

Planting Seeds of Quiet Agroecological Resistance in South Africa’s Fields

A quiet rebellion is taking root in rural South Africa. Led by women armed not with tractors or chemicals, but with seeds, ...
Agricultural and Rural Convention - ARC2020

Spain | Participatory Water Governance – A New Model for Regional CAP Implementation?

In a time of environmental regulation backsliding in agriculture, how can grassroots, participatory processes enable farmers, environmentalists, and other local stakeholders to effectively shape ...
Agricultural and Rural Convention - ARC2020

France | Not Perfect, But Possible – Seeing is Believing at Institut de Tramayes

In the run-up to this November’s Rural Resilience Gathering, we took a trip to the Institut de Tramayes: a centre for learning by doing, that seeks to counteract the fragmentation of intellectual ...
Europe's Milk Crisis

Op-Ed | Farmland Sees the Less Sunny Side of Germany’s Solar Transition

Germany’s energy transition is affecting its land market, driving investment and increasing concentration of land ownership. In this op-ed, Anne Neuber of Netzwerk Flächensicherung, an alliance ...
Europe's Milk Crisis

Letter From The Farm | Neighbours, Not Numbers: How Local Feeds Us All

In a farming system that demands more than it gives, Marie Halicki finds that relationships, not yields, nourish resilience, sovereignty, and sanity. There’s plenty of time to think behind the wheel ...
Europe's Milk Crisis

Rural Europe Takes Action – Food System Lessons from Marburg

From left: Hannes Lorenzen (ARC2020); Ann-Marie Weber, Almut Busch and Merle Drusenbaum (kollektiv von MORGEN); and Marcus Nürnberger (AbL), pictured in a farmyard in southern Marburg-Biedenkopf in ...
Europe's Milk Crisis

The Rise of a New Grain Alliance – Germany’s Free Bakers Sow the Seeds of Change

A new idea is brewing in Germany, with the first seeds sown of a new alliance along the food value chain for cereals and legumes. ARC2020’s President Hannes Lorenzen reports on how farmers, bakers, ...
Europe's Milk Crisis

The EU’s New Big Budget Bombshell – Here’s What We Know So Far

Buckle up – July is shaping up to be a blockbuster month for the EU agrifood sector. In a double-whammy move, the European Commission is set to unveil not one but two major proposals on 16 July that ...
Europe's Milk Crisis

Crafting the Collective – Tijs Boelens’ Vision for a Farmer-Led Grain Revival

If we want local food systems to thrive, every link in the chain must be nurtured: seeds must be saved, farmers must earn a fair price, processors must adapt their methods—and consumers must be able ...
Europe's Milk Crisis

Re-Sowing the Seeds of Connection in Switzerland, Part I – Nurturing What We Have

In early June, the Seeds4All project team was invited by artist Alexandra Baumgartner to contribute to the fifth edition of Food Culture Days, a multidisciplinary biennial organised in Vevey, ...
Europe's Milk Crisis

Op-Ed | Europe Must End The Double Standards In Toxic Pesticides Exports

A number of hazardous pesticides which are banned in the EU are freely manufactured and exported to other countries with weaker regulations, putting human health and the environment at risk. The EU ...