The Earth Association Report! on the Green Deal Crisis

“Transition Betrayed – How Agribusiness Stopped the Green Deal in Agriculture” is the new report by Terra!, which chronicles the gradual dismantling of greeen policies in agriculture, in the European Union.

It was supposed to be a profound transition: a path to greener agriculture, capable of protecting the environment, ensuring healthy food and protecting those who work the land. Since 2019, the year of approval of the Green Deal, the package of green measures valid in every economic sector, including agriculture, Europe has been talking about sustainability, biodiversity, resilience. It seemed like the beginning of a new season for our food system.

But reality took a different turn.

With the start of the war in Ukraine, many of the promises made have been shelved. In order to cope with the emergency, exemptions were granted, environmental targets suspended and reforms postponed. At the same time, pressure from agribusiness lobbies and protests from the agricultural world have prompted the European Union to slow down-or even reverse-the course it has taken.

The buzzwords have changed: words like “sustainability” and “biodiversity” have begun to disappear from official documents. And that ambitious project of ecological transformation lost strength and was betrayed. And has all this had at least a positive impact on farmers’ living conditions? The answer is “no!”

The report tells in a clear and documented way how we got to this point. It explains why food and the policies that regulate it have become the terrain of a clash of economic interests, political choices and compromises. And why all of this affects our future, that of the environment and the quality of our food.

the Report was presented at the conference COMMON EARTH – The idea of a new alliance for fair food