Public money should be awarded to farmers that deliver public goods. This was the main idea that speakers at the 12th European Organic Congress conveyed to the 200 strong audience in the University of Vienna.
During the high-level plenary ‘Organic on every table – The future of food and farming, a transformative approach for the next Common Agricultural Policy (CAP)’, the participants focused on the key elements of the revision and the importance to boost climate and environmental ambition. Jan Plagge, IFOAM EU President, accentuated the importance of delivering public money for public goods saying that “Member States will fail to deliver results adapted to national realities if the new CAP does not clearly prioritise a transition towards sustainable agriculture through ringfencing of money for ‘Eco-schemes’ and agri-environmental measures. Farmers can become eco-entrepreneurs if 70% of the CAP money would be guaranteed for the protection of the climate and the environment.”
The importance of transformation was equally reflected in the morning’s opening plenary ‘Fair Play and Fair Pay for a more sustainable European agricultural and food system’.
Today organic farming is playing a leading role in making European farmers’ livelihoods more sustainable. But it is important to ban unfair trading practices and to set rules for fair trading practices across the whole food production chain, and it is equally important to set goals and follow progress to protect our water, soil, air and biodiversity.
For more information visit www.ifoam-eu.org
Bio Eco Actual, International Organic Newspaper
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