Category: Free Downloads
Subtitle: A relational vision for agriculture in Europe
Agriculture in the EU: Which direction should the EU take?
This report sets out a relational vision for agriculture in Europe. A relational vision for agriculture gives farming a role at the heart of society. Those who farm are not only producing food or managing land, but are cultivating a shared home, local ecosystems in which people, animals and plants flourish. This is achieved through agricultural practice that is ecologically integrated and agricultural business that is well connected to local communities. It would be easy to develop a cynical view of EU policy, because it does not address the most fundamental issues underlying the crisis in agriculture. One could conclude, for example, that "EU policy does not offer real change since ‘food sovereignty scholars’ note that policy retains the view of food as a commodity with ‘capital intensive forms of innovation like digitalisation prioritised, which will likely promote further dependency for farmers". However, this would miss the opportunity to identify real consonance with a the relational vision for agriculture set out here. One paragraph in the new Vision gives hope for such consonance: "Food connects people across territories and regions. It connects farmers with consumers and links urban centres with rural dwellers. Farmers, fishers and food production are the glue that keep rural and coastal communities strong and form the basis of further economic activity. Dynamic rural areas foster quality food production which in turn supports their economy. Reinvigorating these connections between food and territory and revitalising rural areas will be essential for the future of farming in Europe’ (p. 20)." Likewise a few pages later, which talks about the real value of food and how ‘reestablishing the link between food, territory, seasonality, cultures and local traditions is very important’ (p. 22). This is one very good example of an overall policy direction that is conceptually compatible with a relational vision for agriculture and is thus worth finding out more about, advocating for, and helping to bring into reality through supporting specific dependent policies. Read the whole free paper, for more information about the direction Europe should pursue. About the author Dr Matt Williams lives in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. He carries out his discipleship of Jesus by cultivating a home there with his family. He runs an organisation that combines community farming, theology and education. Next to this, Williams is currently Sir Henry Stephenson Research Fellow at the Sheffield Centre for Interdisciplinary Biblical Studies. Do you find the information in this report helpful and inspiring? Are you considering a donation to Sallux | ECPP Foundation to support us to continue our work? Use the following link: https://mypos.com/@sallux