That's really really interesting - thank you for linking to that article. Lets hope that the EU continue to lead the way in environmental issues and embarass the rest of the world into joining in.
Care to send a rum truffle my way? *bats eye-lashes*
The only problem is the poor farmers who are left behind as they don't have the right type of land, with no reason to keep farming as they ear a pittance without subsidies. I knew a man who shot him self because he couldn't see a way out of farming and be able to feed his family and couldn't afford to keep farming. Whilst I love the idea of this, I just hope that it will pay enough to make up for the short falls that farmers will get due to subsidies being cut. A huge amount of em rely on that money to live. Sorry to sound like a panick merchant, but I do worry about these things!!
I think part of the problem is the way the subsidies are handed out. It seems the bulk of them go to large-scale farmers whjo actually need them less, whereas the smaller ones who need them more get nothing or not as much. Also the fact that the majority of the money goes to France and other mainland EU countries.
The other part is the fact that supermarkets pay a pittance for things, or get it from abroad. (Do you read "the Ecologist"?)
It would be good if the goverment would subsidise growing of useful crops like rapeseed (for bio-diesel) and these grasses. They already subsidiss turning your land into certain types of woodland and marshlands, so there's a fair chance they would consider it. That would mean the people with the right sort of land would go over to those crops, leaving people with other sorts of land to grow other crops which due to supply and demand they might then get a decent price for (and/or EU subsidies).
Farmers do get subsidies for rapeseed, like they do with sugar beet. The ones that are for actual crops are for things that would help us to be independant if we went to war again and were cut off from the rest of the world. Then there's the one for set asied land, which is land just left to recuperate after being farmed over the years. The subsidies for things like this go to the farmer no matter what size his farm is, it's just if he/she has a bigger farm then they have more space to grow them. It would be great if all the supermarkets went to local suppliers as the food would probably be of a much higher quality over all. I love being able to buy, what I call 'proper food'!!
Comments 5
Care to send a rum truffle my way? *bats eye-lashes*
Reply
Reply
Whilst I love the idea of this, I just hope that it will pay enough to make up for the short falls that farmers will get due to subsidies being cut. A huge amount of em rely on that money to live.
Sorry to sound like a panick merchant, but I do worry about these things!!
Reply
The other part is the fact that supermarkets pay a pittance for things, or get it from abroad. (Do you read "the Ecologist"?)
It would be good if the goverment would subsidise growing of useful crops like rapeseed (for bio-diesel) and these grasses. They already subsidiss turning your land into certain types of woodland and marshlands, so there's a fair chance they would consider it. That would mean the people with the right sort of land would go over to those crops, leaving people with other sorts of land to grow other crops which due to supply and demand they might then get a decent price for (and/or EU subsidies).
Reply
Then there's the one for set asied land, which is land just left to recuperate after being farmed over the years.
The subsidies for things like this go to the farmer no matter what size his farm is, it's just if he/she has a bigger farm then they have more space to grow them.
It would be great if all the supermarkets went to local suppliers as the food would probably be of a much higher quality over all. I love being able to buy, what I call 'proper food'!!
Reply
Leave a comment