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Food Policies in The Global NorthDriving ethos, current crisis,

growing alternatives

JOSE LUIS VIVERO POL PhD Research Fellow in Food Governance

Module “Global Food Policy & Developement” Master in Food, Law and Finance 2017-18International University College, Turin, Italy

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Topics 2 be addressed• Can we afford a healthy diet?• Farm Bill: main food support & food assistance policy in

US• CAP: main driver of EU food systems • The productivist paradigm in the North• Corporate Ethos VS Public Policies: profit-maximization or

commonwealth• GMO Labelling in US• Civic Collective Actions for Food • Alternative Policy Options for the North

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Ultra-processed VS Fresh food• Price evolution between fresh food and processed and ultra-

processed food between 1990 and 2012, a research (Wiggins et al., 2015) found that fruits and vegetable prices rose between 55-90% whereas ultra-processed food prices simply dropped.

• The unhealthy food produced by the industrial food system is subsidised, prioritised and most efficiently per unit produced than the fresh ones, but it is not better for our health, not better for the food producer’s livelihood or the environment.

• Policy options: over-taxing ultra-processed food, moving subsidies from commoditised food to fresh one

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17 M households

7 M households

Food price effect

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Farm Bill (2014-2023): $940 Billion

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What Are the Various Types of Agriculture Subsidies in Farm Bill?

• Farm subsidies include • income support, • price controls, • land ownership loans, • insurance, and • disaster relief.

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Winners and Losers

• Winners are large agriculture enterprises.[16] Indeed, the vast majority of larger farms collect subsidies compared to only 24% of the (relatively) little farms.

• Big farms with gross sales of +$1 million received 8% in 1991 and 23% now. Family farms shrank from 34% in 1991 to 15% in 2009.[17]

• Members of Congress and their immediate families are eligible for farm subsidies.

[16] Robert A. Hoppe and David E. Banker, “Structure and Finances of U.S. Farms,” USDA Family Farm Report, July 2010, http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/ EIB66/EIB66.pdf (accessed May 30, 2012).

[17] T. Kirk White and Robert A. Hoppe, “Changing Farm Structure and the Distribution of Farm Payments and Federal Crop Insurance,” USDA Economic Research Service, February 2012, http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/EIB91/EIB91.pdf (accessed May 30, 2012).

THIS IS THE EUROPEAN FOOD SYSTEM

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Food Insecurity (unability to eat meat every second day): 10.9%.

13.5 M people2.7% increase since austerity

measures

30 M Malnutrition (Transmango Project)

Food security in compliance with societal requirements

Fair income

Singularity of the

agricultural sector

Reasonable consumer

price

Guiding Principles of

EU CAP 1962-2016

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RECAP: Europe´s Food Security in 1 min

• 1945-1980: Increase production at any cost• 1980-2008: Production reached. So…quality,

lower prices, commodification (biofuels, financialisation, long chains, global trade)

• 2008-2016: Two food crises. Climate change will threat Food. Limited resources (water, soil, P, N). Obesity

• 2016-2050: Securing Food Supply. More trade. Common Food Policy

1962: produce more + good prices for farmersGuaranteed Prices & Shared Funding1992: From market to producer support1990s: Organic farming & food quality2000: Rural Development2003: CAP REF (market oriented & conditionality)2000s: Open Food Trade (EBA) What do we do with farmers?2007: Farming population doubles2011: CAP REF (competitiveness). Climate Change, Rural Landscapes, employment, leisure, innovation

2014: CAP is 40% of EU Budget52 Billion Euro (0.43% of EU GDP)

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• Farmers represent 5.4 percent of the EU’s population. Yet they receive 40 percent of the EU’s total budget through CAP.

• Bigger farmers are the greatest beneficiaries, with 20% of farmers estimated to receive 74% of funding

• Europe’s taxpayers hand over €52 billion in subsidies

EU AGRICULTURE´S SHARE• 12 million farms in the European Union (2010). • Around 10 million persons are (directly) employed in

agriculture, representing 5% of total employment • Farm Structure Survey (FSS) indicates that 25 million people

were regularly engaged in farm work (agriculture + non-agriculture) in the EU during 2010

Source: EU Agricultural Economics Briefs No 8 | July 2013. How many people work in agriculture in the European Union? An answer based on Eurostat data sourceshttp://www.ecpa.eu/information-page/agriculture-today/common-agricultural-policy-cap 18

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Why so much for so few?

Although not recognized publicly, food is not like other commodities. It is “the special one”

In 1985, around 70% of EU budget went to agriculture

“Agriculture's relatively large share of the EU budget is entirely justified; it is the only policy funded almost entirely from the budget. This means that EU spending replaces national expenditure to a large extent”

“The average EU farmer receives less than half of what the average US farmer receives in public support”

Source: http://ec.europa.eu/budget/explained/myths/myths_en.cfm

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1. Sustainable Intensification (science)

2. Green Growth (UN + Governments)

3. New Green Revolution (Corporate)

4. Climat-smart Agriculture (World Bank)

If we waste one third of total food production (wasted land, money, labourforce, energy, GHG emissions) AND

humanity is proyected to increased just 20% (from 7.2 B in 2012 to 9 B in 2050),

why do we need to increase production by 50-70%?

Academia questioning the productivist paradigm

Driving Ethos in Food System

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Profit-driven Maximisation VS Public Interest: colliding narratives?

News sparked furious condemnation from green MEPs and NGOs, intensified by the report’s release two days before an EU relicensing vote on glyphosate, which will be worth billions of dollars to industry.

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1976

2016

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GMO Labelling in USA

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This law will prevent States to issue their own laws, more stringent & detailed

TRANSITION MOVEMENT

Contemporary collective actions

for food (urban consumers)

Alter-hegemonic + gradual

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The six food dimensions relevant to humans: multi-dimensional food as commons VS mono-dimensional food as commodity

Source: Vivero-Pol (in press). http://www.preprints.org/manuscript/201701.0073/v1

Proposals for an EUCOMMONS

FOOD POLICY

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To guarantee school meals for all

students in public schools

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To support local purchase (small farming, agro-ecology & cooperatives) to satisfy food needs of municipal premises 50

Stricter & innovative rules to avoid food waste

To recycle all expired food (i.e. France)

Supporting citizens´ collective

actions to reduced waste, promote food sharing

and co-producing51

Shifting from charitable food (Food Banks) to food as right (Universal Food Coverage)

A food bank network that is universal, accountable, compulsory and not voluntary, random, targeted

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Compulsory rooftop greening for every new building (with edibles, non-edibles)

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Establishing bakeries where every citizen can get access to a bread loaf every day (if needed or willing to)

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Encourage Food Policy Councils (open

membership to citizens) through participatory

democracies, financial seed capital and enabling

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Set target for food provisioning in 2030 (Food Council)

• 60% private sector• 25% self-production (collective

actions) • 15% state-provisioning (public

buildings, destitute people, unemployed families) through Universal Food Coverage 

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Eager to exchange on food as a commons

Many uncertainties & gaps remain to be developed in a common way combining praxis with normative

social constructs

@joselviveropol

joseluisviveropol

http://hambreyderechoshumanos.blogspot.com

http://hungerpolitics.wordpress.com

Jose Luis Vivero Poljoseluisvivero@gmail.com