Is the farm bill a welfare program for slackers or the last-ever chance to create a sustainable food model for the future? Listening to Republicans and Democrats, those seem to be the only two choices. The $1 trillion-plus spending package that is the 2023 farm bill is set to become an unprecedented point of contention […]
Whether it’s Mexico’s threat of banning the import of American corn, or the five-year revamp of the American Farm Bill, agriculture is not merely about growing food. As the politics of farming affects the livelihoods of each American, it transforms agricultural policy into an electoral issue. The Biden administration recently announced the creation of a […]
As the now year-old war in Ukraine continues to unravel, so do the stories revealing the ruthlessness with which the Russian state has not only intervened in political discourse, but also in areas of global public debate. There are those untruths that further the interests of the Kremlin in a palpable geopolitical way: think “Ukraine […]
In this week’s ConsEUmer episode: 🌱 Farm ministers in the EU are sceptical on pesticide reduction targets 🇳🇱 The Netherlands had 33 strikes last year 🇸🇪 Sweden gets vaping right (w/ Michael Landl) You can follow Michael Landl on Twitter @LandlMichael. May 4, 2023 Follow ConsEUmer wherever you get your podcasts: Apple: https://apple.co/2HR4TLTSpotify: https://spoti.fi/3l3GZdxGoogle podcasts: https://bit.ly/3fyyzto
The Farmer-Citizen Movement, or BoerBurgerBeweging (BBB), won big in the recent Dutch provincial elections, raking up a whopping 15 of the 75 seats in the Senate. This makes it the strongest party in the Netherlands’ upper chamber, with the ability to undermine the government of Prime Minister Mark Rutte. The BBB was created in 2019, […]
La victoire électorale du parti des agriculteurs néerlandais préfigure les prochaines batailles environnementales en Europe. Le Mouvement des agriculteurs citoyens néerlandais (BBB) a remporté une grande victoire lors des élections provinciales du pays, le 15 mars dernier. Avec 19,36% des voix et 139 des 572 sièges en jeu, il est devenu, 4 ans après sa […]
The challenge of food systems around the globe is to address the climate impact of agriculture. Farming accounts for about 11 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Arguably, we could just “stop farming” — as suggested by a recent viral video of an environmental protester on Twitter — but as long as we need to […]
The European Union is carving out the legislative framework for so-called Sustainable Food Systems (SFS). In essence, these new regulations would label and then seek to phase out what Europe considers to be the least sustainable food products. This measure will hit European producers as much as American exports to the EU. In a leaked […]
In this week’s episode of ConsEUmer: 🇳🇱 Dutch farmer’s party threatens Lelystad airport ☢️ Nuclear energy continues to be controversial in Brussels 🌱 How GMOs are a game-changer (w/ Dr. Graham Brookes) March 23, 2023 Follow ConsEUmer wherever you get your podcasts: Apple: https://apple.co/2HR4TLTSpotify: https://spoti.fi/3l3GZdxGoogle podcasts: https://bit.ly/3fyyzto
The United States has the opportunity to upgrade its food exports to increase revenues for farmers, but for that to happen it needs to negotiate a comprehensive trade deal with Europe. For reference, America exports more food to Japan, a market of 125 million consumers, than to the European Union, which holds (with its associated […]
Bill Wirtz 