Consider the Dutch experiment. Farmers in the Netherlands were facing extinction at the hands of their own government. In the summer of 2022, the Dutch government introduced a plan to “radically” reduce the number of livestock raised in the country by more than 35 million animals. The multi-billion-dollar scheme would pay some farmers to quit the farm or relocate outside the country. Those that survived would be forced to implement practices that would require them to raise fewer animals on more land.
In the end, the EU’s Farm-to-Fork initiative only seeks to export greenhouse gas emissions to other parts of the world. Hamstringing farmers isn’t going to change the demand for food, fuel, and fiber. And that’s precisely why the EU temporarily ditched those policies in the face of Russia’s attack on Ukraine that upended food supply chains. It isn’t really sustainable.
So maybe that’s the reason these efforts to make life more eco-friendly felt a bit quaint and cute. While the average European is inconvenienced by drinking a pop with an attached cap, farmers’ livelihoods are being destroyed. I had to spend a few pounds on a bag to carry my souvenirs, but I’m not being forcefully relocated by the government. It’s easy to pat yourself on the back for making a difference when you’re not the one really facing the real consequences of bad policy.
That’s not the perspective I anticipated when I booked my flight (oh, the emissions!), but it was one I couldn’t escape.
Amanda Zaluckyj blogs under the name The Farmer’s Daughter USA. Her goal is to promote farmers and tackle the misinformation swirling around the U.S. food industry.
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Publish date : 2024-10-18 11:10:00
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