The File
The European Union's Farm to Fork Strategy set binding-style targets for European agriculture, a 50 percent cut in pesticide use, a 50 percent cut in antimicrobial sales for livestock, and a quarter of all farmland converted to organic production. In the Netherlands, a 2019 court ruling that the government's nitrogen policy could not legally support new emissions permits forced the same policy tension into direct confrontation with farmers.
The Documented Record
The Farm to Fork Strategy set a target of reducing the use and risk of pesticides by 50 percent, cutting fertilizer use by at least 20 percent, cutting antimicrobial sales for farmed animals and aquaculture by 50 percent, and bringing 25 percent of agricultural land under organic farming. [DOCUMENTED]
The Strategy sits at the center of the European Green Deal, aiming to make Europe's food system fair, healthy, and environmentally friendly. [DOCUMENTED]
The Strategy's stated aims include a neutral or positive environmental impact, food security, and ensuring nutritious, sustainable food access for all. [DOCUMENTED]
The Strategy also directs the European Commission to determine minimum mandatory criteria for sustainable food procurement in schools and public institutions. [DOCUMENTED]
May 29, 2019: The Dutch Council of State ruled that the Programma Aanpak Stikstof could not be used as a legal basis for granting permits to nitrogen-emitting activities. [DOCUMENTED]
Sources
- Communication COM/2020/381, A Farm to Fork Strategy, European Commission
- Farm to Fork Strategy, European Commission
- Sustainable Food Consumption, European Commission
- PAS mag niet als toestemmingsbasis voor activiteiten worden gebruikt, Raad van State, 2019
- Future of farming in England, GOV.UK
- Agricultural Transition Plan 2021 to 2024, GOV.UK
Connected Files
RVLT-002 documents the farmer protest movement and electoral consequences the Dutch nitrogen ruling produced.