*[Enwl-eng] Better Farming
ENWLine
Hi,
This is a story of the WeMove Europe community at its best.
We had a big fight ahead of us. We were up against an industry that gets the biggest chunk of the European budget. So the decks were stacked against us - landowners and agricultural giants and their powerful lobbies fighting for millions, for business as usual, in the midst of a worsening climate crisis.
We were punching way above our weight, and we love doing that.
We joined forces with activists from Fridays for Future and Extinction Rebellion. We worked with some of the great NGOs in Brussels, including BirdLife Europe.
We campaigned together for months to stop the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), a deal on agriculture that favors agribusiness and is terrible for the environment and our climate. Nearly 160.000 of us supported the campaign from across Europe. Thousands of us donated and sent tweets or emails to the European Commission. We created a video that was watched over 30,000 times.
And we organised a protest in Brussels to put pressure on the European decision makers.
Our protest in front of President von der Leyen’s office in the commission, photos by Philip Reynaers
Yet, it wasn’t enough to stop this deal. [1]
There is no way to sugarcoat it. The EU signed a deal on agriculture that is a big failure; for people, for the planet, for climate, and for small farmers. In fact, the deal funds the destruction of nature and pumps money into factory farms. It's a disaster. Here’s why;
- Money will continue to flow to intensive animal farming
- There are no strict rules to move away from pesticides and fertilisers
- No clear amount of money will be invested in restoring biodiversity
- Large farms, planting only one crop, using pesticides and having thousands of animals still get the biggest funds, while small and organic farmers are left behind
It is really a missed opportunity to stop the destruction of our farmland, climate change and to support small farmers in Europe. We know that the fertile soil our lives depend on is disappearing. [2] We need to protect it to be able to produce food - especially in times of climate extremes.
But we also know change doesn't happen overnight. There’s still hope. We can farm in a way that is good for our planet and our health. And there are farmers that are already doing so.
This fall, our partners Climate Farmers will run a webinar for our community to talk to us about what good farming can look like. [3] They’ll talk about how combining trees and farmland - agroecology - has a huge potential to restore healthy soil, save bees and birds and stop the climate crisis.
So, would you like to learn more about this? The webinar is planned for 7th September at 7pm.
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There are many more food fights to come in the coming months and years. And together we’ll be ready!
With hope,
David (London), Annemarie (Berlin) and the entire WeMove team
PS. Our work is only possible thanks to many small donations from our community - for that we want to thank you. Help us continue the fight for healthy and fair agriculture. Can you chip in?
References:
[1] On 25th June 2021, European negotiators came to an
agreement on the reform of the 2023-2027 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)
[2]
https://www.bbc.com/future/bespoke/follow-the-food/why-soil-is-disappearing-from-farms
[3]
https://climatefarmers.org/
WeMove Europe is a community of people from all walks of life,
who call Europe our home,
no matter where we were born, where we live or who
we love. In the name of a brighter future for people and the planet,
we
come together to sign petitions, send letters and protest on the streets to make
our voices heard.
Our power comes from each other. And it's thanks to
small monthly donations, fivers and tenners, that we can keep going.
Vladimir, please help keep WeMove Europe strong by chipping in.
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WeMove Europe SCE mbH | Planufer 91 Berlin | www.wemove.eu | Privacy policy |
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