Ruth Mottram"The European Union covers a largely urbanised continent, but it sometimes feels like a farming-subsidy club with a flag and a parliament. Around a third of the bloc’s budget goes to farmers".
axel.@Ruth_Mottram @hypebot Yes, because even if not viable from a capitalist viewpoint, it makes sense to stay independent in food stuff production.
Kristian Thy@axeln @Ruth_Mottram @hypebot but are we using the subsidies intelligently to keep a sustainable food production running so we're self-sufficient? Or are we perhaps pissing it away on brutal pig factories selling cheap, antibiotic-filled pork to China?
@kthy @Ruth_Mottram @hypebot Unfortunately, that’s politics. Strategy is deciding to keep the production base, politics and market economy on what to produce.
Biorreactivo@kthy @axeln @Ruth_Mottram @hypebot regulations on EU are among the strictest in the world, if not the strictest. That is not saying that antibiotics are still massively used in animal production or many farms mistreat animals.
The team harm here is agricultural and livestock industrial production being subsidized, instead of using more resources to stop big companies from taking over farming and turning small farms into sustainable ones, not market-driven, but really aimed at this strategic role of satisfying binternal food demand.
Saying it in a simple way, more potatoes, less pistachios for "Dubai" fake chocolate. Indeed, more local food, even if it is less profitable (and here it comes EU funding, which should be kind of UBI fue farmers). Indeed, whereas food circulation is positive, we should avoid the current situation in which some areas are unsustainably producing done stuff for the whole EU (e.g. almost desert SE Spain growing vegetables while depleting water reserves, most of that being sold to Northern countries.
The team harm here is agricultural and livestock industrial production being subsidized, instead of using more resources to stop big companies from taking over farming and turning small farms into sustainable ones, not market-driven, but really aimed at this strategic role of satisfying binternal food demand.
Saying it in a simple way, more potatoes, less pistachios for "Dubai" fake chocolate. Indeed, more local food, even if it is less profitable (and here it comes EU funding, which should be kind of UBI fue farmers). Indeed, whereas food circulation is positive, we should avoid the current situation in which some areas are unsustainably producing done stuff for the whole EU (e.g. almost desert SE Spain growing vegetables while depleting water reserves, most of that being sold to Northern countries.
Morten@precariousmind @kthy @axeln @Ruth_Mottram @hypebot Yeah, Spain is sacrificing its freshwater and Denmark is sacrificing its seas to produce 30 million pigs per year (40 million are born but 10 million of them die). Denmark is a nation of 6 million people. And farmers are unhappy as well so it seems like we are mainly doing it for the sake of bankers.
Quoting the EU:
The EU exported €228.6 billion worth of agricultural products and imported €182.3 billion, generating a surplus of €46.3 billion.
Thomas Tanghus