Sir, Regarding ‘Brussels outlines vision for ‘fairer’ EU farm policy‘: The European Commission’s Communication on the future of the Common Agricultural Policy sets separate objectives of social cohesion, economic health and environmental sustainability. Our association fully shares these objectives. Together with the 19 participants from 14 member states and highly diverse backgrounds who attended our [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Farm reform: Following the money trail‘: I fail to understand how and why no-one is really aiming at real reform of the CAP. I think genuine reform is obviously needed. Why are people discussing the future like a mere repetition of the past? Paulo Casaca

Sir, Regarding ‘Food industry wins battle on ‘traffic light’ labels‘: CIAA’s [Confederation of the Food and Drink Industries of Europe] €1-billion campaign to promote the GDA [guideline daily allowance] labelling system was clearly a key element in its political strategy to combat other, stricter labelling options, which it feared would damage sales of unhealthy food, [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘EU eyes increased role for organic farming‘: I have been involved with improving the quality of water that is used for the production of food for over a decade. Once the quality has been improved, pathogenic diseases tend to be much less without the use of chemicals – just by using oxygen. Clive [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘Controversy mounts over EU biofuels fall-out‘: The Standing Committee of the Bern Convention (the Council of Europe Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats), worried that the increase of biofuel cropping systems may lead to cultivation escapes of invasive taxa with subsequent negative effects on native biological diversity, adopted advice [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘EU weighs proposals to break GMO deadlock‘: The process of GMO invasion in Europe can be clearly observed in articles and statements of public figures. More and more we are told that we have to deal with GMOs, that we have to submit to progress in science, that we have to do it [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘MEPs want farm policy to ease climate change‘: The ambition to make the CAP more climate friendly is commendable. The EP draft report, presented by Stéphane Le Foll, has clearly recognised the challenge to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases from agriculture and to increase carbon storage in the soil. However, one must not [...]

Sir, Regarding ‘World Food Summit deepens rich-poor country divide‘: There can be no meaningful discussion about world hunger and how to solve this problem without addressing popuation growth. The world has reached its ‘carrying capacity’: a severe shortage of water is staring many countries in the face, and agricultural land has to make way for [...]