Mycotoxin contamination is set to become a bigger problem as climate change evolves. In order to prevent food safety and food security, European farmers need adequate crop protection tools…. What do you do when you see a set of mould on the marmalade in your fridge? The unfortunate conventional household wisdom is to remove it, […]
The third episode of ConsEUmer is out ! This week with Michel Landl from the World Vapers Alliance, talking about harm reduction and beating cancer. Other topics in this podcast: -> Win for ride-sharing in EU court -> UN has good news for medicinal cannabis -> EU might sanction Turkey this week
The European Commission’s new Farm To Fork strategy aims at a significant increase in organic farming in Europe. The implication that organic is better seems to have become the predominant belief in agricultural politics. However, it doesn’t hold up to the… Organic farming benefits from special derogations in public discourse — it in fact does […]
A French scientist has won a Nobel Prize for a technology that has been made illegal for use in agriculture by the European Union… One wonders how exactly the news was received in the European Commission when two female scientists, one of which French, received the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, for the development of […]
The ambitious targets of the F2F strategy will cause headaches for the EU’s trade policy… The European Commission has laid out an ambitious plan with the Farm to Fork strategy, which is set to flip agriculture in Europe upside down. For the EU, agriculture is to blame for much of the lack of sustainability in […]
NEW ConsEUmer episode out today. This week with Fred Roeder, on the European Commission’s new pharma strategy, and on the European Green Deal. Other topics in this podcast: -> Lobsters go free of tariffs -> Where are the European tech giants?
Most of Europe is back in lockdown, presumably as punishment for our sins of going outside during the summer, and as preparation for the Christmas holidays. It feels like being back in school, where a patronizing teacher indicates that the children are incapable of behaving themselves. To some Europeans, this is a surprising development. Yet […]
Every consumer will know this problem: you come home from a long trip but the fruits, vegetables, and yoghurt are still in the fridge. “Expiry dates are just an industry trick to sell more food” is a thought that leads some to disregard the mould that has formed on all of these items over time, […]
This week I launched the ConsEUmer podcast, the European podcast of the Consumer Choice Center. Broadcasting every Thursday, wherever you listen to podcasts. I will be updating you on the latest consumer choice issues in the EU and its member states, and will also host a weekly guest. This week with Yaël Ossowski, on targeted […]
The Europeans killed a potential deal during the Obama years, but the world is a different place now. Trade relationships with Europe have been painstakingly petty for the last four years. In 2019, the U.S ended the WTO’s appellate body by refusing to appoint new members, which meant that the world’s arbiter on trade had […]
Bill Wirtz 