*[Enwl-eng] Three sides of farming

[ENWL]

Hi, 

Picture a farmer looking over a few cows, roaming freely and grazing on the green grass. Clucking chickens and a few sheep make their way into the picture. (Maybe you even hear ‘Old MacDonald had a farm’). 

When we think about the fresh, healthy food we want to end up on our plates, we want to think about farming in this way. But actually, those cows aren’t just a few, there are hundreds of them. More likely than not, they’re lined up one next to the other, in tight, indoor spaces. [1]

Farming has now more often than not become an industrialised conveyor belt of livestock and food, contributing significantly to the climate crisis. This type of farming receives a lot of EU funding -- the biggest chunk of the budget actually. So there is no incentive to change to the type of farming we’d like to imagine. [2]

But the months ahead offer us a huge opportunity for change. Europe’s agriculture policy is being reformed and together with partners we’ve been developing following plan;

  a.. identifying the MEP’s who can influence the reform most and making sure they hear our demands 
  b.. Enabling people from all over Europe to meet their MEP’s in Brussels 
  c.. Closer to the vote, having our citizens lobbyist show up to the MEP’s local offices so they know we are not only in Brussels, but right where they were elected 
How big our plans are and what we dare to do will depend on how many people support us. Donate now for an agricultural U-turn in Europe.

      I’ll donate €8 
      I’ll donate €15 
      I’ll donate €23 

Farming policy is hotly contested because there is so much money involved. It is the largest item in the EU budget and accounts for almost 40 percent of annual EU expenditure (which equals almost €60 billion). [3] Unfortunately, most of that money is given to the farmers who own the most land - simply because they own it, not because they are doing something for the environment or for healthy and sustainable food.

The new European Parliament has to vote on what the old European Commission proposed for the coming five years. The proposal provides far too much money for commercialising our countrysides and far too little for organic farming. Having so many new MEP’s is our chance to change it.

It’s crucial to speak to our representatives personally. We recently experienced it when we staged a die-in for the climate in the European Parliament and MEP’s had to step over dozens of laying bodies. [4] Being face to face doesn’t allow them to hide and gives us the chance to report uncensored on their reaction.

We know what to do, but we also know that we have to spend approximately 20,000 Euros to succeed. Money that can only come from our base: hundreds of thousands of people who are fighting with us for organic farming, healthy food and an intact environment - in short, a better Europe. Please donate to help us achieve it.

      I’ll donate €8 
      I’ll donate €15 
      I’ll donate €23 

For every food item we buy, we support a certain way of farming. Buying local and organic food is one way to change farming. Unfortunately it’s not powerful enough to get rid of industrial farming as fast enough as we need to. Only better regulation and changes in subsidies guarantee a way of farming good enough to feed us all, protect the environment and enhance fair income for farmers. 

Let’s make the change!

David, Olga (Bologna), Alex (Marseilles), Jörg (Lübeck) and the whole WeMove Europe team





References

[1] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/feb/28/free-range-milk-asda-dairy-farming-cows-in-fields-pasture-promise

[2][3] https://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/sites/agriculture/files/direct-support/direct-payments/docs/direct-payments-schemes_en.pdf
[4] https://www.brusselstimes.com/belgium/79487/youth-activists-stage-die-in-at-european-commission/



WeMove.EU is a citizens’ movement, campaigning for a better Europe; for a European Union committed to social and economic justice, environmental sustainability and citizen-led democracy. We are people from all walks of life, who call Europe our home whether we were born in Europe or elsewhere. 

WeMove Europe SCE mbH | Planufer 91 Berlin | www.wemove.eu | Privacy policy

 

From: David - WeMove Europe 
Sent: Tuesday, December 10, 2019 9:11 AM
Subject: Three sides of farming


 
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