COVID-19, war, climate change and costs dominated the early stages of this enormous Brussels-based conference which was back as a real event after two years of COVID-19 caused absence. The main speaker was meant to be Frans Timmermans, the principle architect of the Green Deal / Farm to Fork initiative and the Vice President of the European Commission with responsibility for driving the policy through.

No apology

The conference organisers the Friends of the Countryside and the European Landowners Association (ELO) have had a fractious relationship with Mr Timmermans - a Dutch socialist who in fact didn’t turn up to speak on the basis of having COVID-19. No apology was offered and no substitute such as his chef de cabinet or director general was made available. It left a major gap.

Getting back on track

Nevertheless the former Commissioner for the environment and chairman of the organisers Slovenian politician Janez Potocnik gave an overall view of how EU and broader agricultural policy was veering off course.

He wanted to see a greater proportion of farmland growing crops for human rather than animal feed. He was against biofuels for transport and fertile land being swallowed up by expanding cities.

But while he acknowledged that many people had seen improvements in their standard of living, he still attacked the present economic model as charging more for better food than mediocre, but there were few solutions on offer.

Increased production

Realistic contributions came from the serious businesses of Cargill and the European food and drinks industry. Both pointed to the need to increase food production as populations increased.

They also highlighted the inevitable surge in inflation, stemming from the war in Ukraine as well as the explosion in fertiliser and gas prices.

Dirk Jacobs, Director General of Food Drink Europe called for some “recalibration” of the Farm to Fork strategy and recommended more and better long-term contracts with farmers as a way of guaranteeing both incomes and supply. It is a suggestion that deserves more attention from policymakers, especially in times like these.