CAP

Citation

(2012), "CAP", Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 42 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/nfs.2012.01742baa.004

CAP

Article Type: Food facts From: Nutrition & Food Science, Volume 42, Issue 2

A draft new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) published by the European Commission is likely to leave British farmers hooked on factory farming that is wrecking rainforests and increasing food prices, Friends of the Earth is warning. EU documents seen by the green campaigning charity show that Europe is failing to make the important policy changes needed to support farmers investing in sustainable farming practices, and end the need for environmentally damaging imports of soy to feed animals in our factory farms.

Friends of the Earth says Britain is blocking progress on CAP reform by standing in the way of plans to ensure farm subsidies are only awarded to planet-friendly farms. The green campaigning charity is calling on the government to support measures that will stop UK farming depleting natural resources and using climate-changing fossil fuels, provide fair incomes for British farmers, and reduce the UK’s impact on volatile global food prices – currently so high that some of the world’s poorest can not afford to eat.

As the European Commission publishes its proposals for the CAP, which is due to be reformed by the end of 2013, which? says:

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) should be scrapped. This is an archaic policy, which all consumers pay for through taxes and higher food prices. It’s all the harder to justify at a time of soaring household bills and falling disposable incomes. The food supply chain is facing unprecedented challenges including rising food prices and tackling problems of food security, with enormous implications for consumers. The CAP should therefore be replaced with an EU food strategy that puts the consumer at its heart. We can’t go on with a policy that does so little for sustainability, food quality and healthy eating.