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A Sustainable Food Industry for Europe (Now with poll!) | 37 comments (37 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)
Food (4.00 / 2)
One must first agree on the purpose of the CAP. Is it to optimize food production or is it to maintain the ideal of picturesque family farms in an attractive rural setting?

Massive amounts of food are best produced by gigantic corporate-owned factory farms using high technology seed, fertilizer, implements, and pest management chemicals. Pastoral settings are best maintained by targeted price supports. What is the goal?

by asdf on Tue Jun 23rd, 2009 at 08:51:41 AM EST
Re: Food (4.00 / 2)
I don't think it is as simple as this.  Even "massive amounts of food" have to be produced in a safe and sustainable way, and chemical fertilisers, pesticides, and GM crops don't always meet those criteria.  Most of Western Europe is too densely populated or of unsuitable terrain for massive factory farms in any case.

Maximising employment, product quality, social cohesion and stability, environmental sustainability, biodiversity, rural and regional development, European self sufficiency and balancing supply/demand have always been part of EU agricultural policy.

No, it doesn't always provide you with the cheapest food, and the globalisation of the food industry continues apace.  Factory farms in less densely populated/more suitable terrains will continue to increase market share providing less employment, employment rights, often less biodiversity/sustainability, and possibly less food for those who need it most.

It is impossible to discuss the food industry outside its environmental and social context and market mechanisms alone will not ensure sustainability or distribution to those who need it.

notes from no w here

by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Tue Jun 23rd, 2009 at 09:21:52 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Food (4.00 / 4)
Optimize food production along which dimension?
  1. Environmental impact?
  2. Quality of flavour?
  3. Animal welfare?
  4. Diversity of products?
  5. Nutritional content?
  6. Quantity?

I would argue that gigantic corporate-owned factory farms tend to do quite poorly on at least the first four. The European agricultural problem is closer to over production than under production anyway, so I don't think the last point is really of great concern at the moment. And, yes, pastoral settings should be part of the goal.

by someone (s0me1smail(a)gmail(d)com) on Tue Jun 23rd, 2009 at 11:26:03 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Food (4.00 / 4)
asdf:
Is it to optimize food production or is it to maintain the ideal of picturesque family farms in an attractive rural setting?

i think it's incredibly important to differentiate between optimisation and maximisation.

or if talking about maximisation, talk about maximisation of nutrients, and health of topsoil, water tables, etc.

otherwise it's just about sacrificing quality for quantity, and we see the dismal results of that all around us, if we look beyond the surface.

'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Thu Jun 25th, 2009 at 07:34:01 AM EST
[ Parent ]

A Sustainable Food Industry for Europe (Now with poll!) | 37 comments (37 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
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