Is Farm-to-Fork soon to be the basis of EU agricultural policy?

The Farm-to-Fork strategy and the biodiversity strategy were presented in Brussels and are both part of the European Commission's New Green Deal. According to the reports organic farming should increase to 25 percent and the use of pesticides and antibiotics halved in the EU member states by 2030.

Jan Plagge, President of Bioland commented: "This is a very encouraging signal from Brussels - Europe's agriculture and food industry should become significantly more ecological by 2030. The target of 25 percent organic farming by 2030 is an important indicator for the agriculture of the future. This is exactly the right direction, if we want to tackle the climate crisis, the immense challenges of biodiversity and also make our agricultural systems more resilient. The Farm-to-Fork strategy is courageous! But it mustn’t be allowed become just another fine report; it must initiate a real change. Now is the time to fully integrate the objectives and measures of the F2F and biodiversity strategy into the GAP regulation’s strategic plan and to make the GAP an effective instrument to preserve our livelihoods. The new GAP can only become effective if farmers are rewarded directly for their voluntary work for the environmental, climate and animal protection, for which they are currently not being remunerated by the market. 70 percent of the GAP funding needs to be used for this and also national funding needs be increased to enable more farmers to convert to organic farming. With Farm-to-Fork as the basis strategy, the GAP can succeed towards securing sustainable food".

On the Bioland association

Bioland is the most important association for organic farming in Germany. More than 8,100 farmers, gardeners, beekeepers and winegrowers farm according to the Bioland standards. In addition, there are more than 1,200 partners from production and industry such as bakeries, dairies, butchers and gastronomy. Together they form a community of values for the benefit of man and the environment.