Janice R. Andrews
Social justice and environmental activists have joined the farmers’ demonstration in Brussels, demonstrating a tremendous show of solidarity and reflecting the anger of farmers facing poor wages, uncertain futures, and the consequences of decades of unsustainable policies.
Devoted to a more equitable farming system, the activists support farmers’ demands to renounce the contentious EU-Mercosur free-trade agreement. While acknowledging the rightfulness of farmers’ ire, they advise against the far-right and conservative parties, as well as agro-industrial interests, taking advantage of their ire to thwart environmental goals and pledges.
Environmental activists stress that laws pertaining to the environment are not harmful, but rather an essential instrument for addressing the issues posed by climate change and biodiversity. Denying these facts could make problems for farmers worse, making them more susceptible to heatwaves, floods, and droughts.
The activists demand that the new European Commission take the lead in transforming the food and agriculture systems in a way that is equitable, just, and climate-friendly. They are calling for a revolutionary strategy. They criticise the current agricultural practices, which mostly rely on fossil fuels, fertilisers, and pesticides and have driven industrialization.
They expose a striking imbalance: twenty percent of European farms receive more than eighty percent of the subsidies provided by the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which encourages industrial production on a massive scale and land concentration. This paradigm disproportionately benefits large agribusiness and food firms, while being harmful to the environment and farmers’ income.
The activists expose the corporate behemoths at the centre of the problem and denounce attempts to use the farmers’ protests as a pretext to roll back environmental regulations. Farmers around Europe, but especially in France, Spain, and Belgium, are calling for an end to free-trade agreements such as the EU-Mercosur Agreement, which benefit companies like BASF, Bayer, and Cargill.
They stress that these kinds of agreements impede the transition to sustainable food and agricultural systems and jeopardise the viability of small-scale family farmers. The campaigners draw attention to the worrying possibility that European farmers may face competition from imported food made with chemicals that are prohibited within the EU.
The campaigners urge governments to confront the true concerns of farmers, such as equitable wages, labour rights, and the transition to agroecological and local food systems, in their pursuit of true change. For a successful transformation, they emphasise how crucial it is to put farmers—especially small and medium-sized farmers—at the centre of decision-making processes.
Together with their allies from La Via Campesina, the activists are calling for an immediate end to negotiations on the EU-Mercosur trade agreement as well as public backing for a real shift to more sustainable agricultural models that put the welfare of both people and farmers first.
Food, agriculture, and environmental campaigner Clara Bourgin of Friends of the Earth Europe emphasises how urgently this change is required.
