”Nokitus” Ollilalle: se onkin sitten luomumaailma?

[Heikki Jokipii]

On kyllä ehkä näinkin:

Ukraine war exposes EU’s organic obsession and biotechnology rejectionism

Mutta toisaalta merkkejä on, että EU pystyy muuttamaan politiikkansa:

Before Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine, The European Union was poised to implement its Farm-To-Fork program, which aimed to cut pesticide use by 50 percent and commit 25 percent of Europe’s farmland to organic food production by 2030. This was always a misguided plan; now it’s a pipe dream, and the EU knows it. Policymakers are working to relax import restrictions on transgenic (“GMO”) crops that farmers need for animal feed, an increase beyond the 30 million metric tons of genetically engineered soy Europe already imports.

This is a positive step in the grand scheme of things, and it may finally push Europe into letting farmers grow the biotech crops its regulators know pose no risk to human health or the environment. “It gives governments an opportunity to take a hard look at the underlying rationale for prohibiting GM crop cultivation in the first place,” Smyth added. “I think some governments are going to say, ‘That time has passed, and we need to change our policies.’”

Tällaisia merkkejä mekin olemme olleet näkevinämme, muutamassa edellisessä puheenvuorossa.

[Heikki Jokipii]

Jari Leppä on jättämässä maatalousministerin tehtävät. Eikö tämä kohta hänen kirjoituksessaaan Hesarissa tänään osoita katumusta:

Halpaa ruokaa ei ole olemassakaan

Myös EU:n tavoitteet ruuantuotannolle ajavat ruokaturvaa yhä ahtaammalle. EU:n yhteisen maatalouspolitiikan tavoitteet ja sen perusteella valmistellut kansalliset suunnitelmat on valmisteltu Ukrainan sotaa edeltävässä ajassa. Tämän vuoksi maatalouspolitiikan tavoitteita ja siitä seuraavia toimia on arvioitava uudelleen, ennen kuin uusi ohjelmakausi vuonna 2023 alkaa. Kun Euroopan vilja-aitta on sodan kourissa, on muun Euroopan huolehdittava entistä paremmin omasta ruokahuollostaan.

Siitä, että hänen aikanaan Suomi antoi kritiikittömän tukensa EU:n linjauksille. Itse asiassa edes odottamatta selvitystä niiden vaikutuksista.

[Heikki Jokipii]

Löysi komission linja puolustajansakin:

Timmermans: Scaremongering on food security ‘dishonest, irresponsible’

The commissioner also went one step further, accusing those opposed to the EU’s green farming ambitions of using the war as a pretext to push their own agenda.

“Those who did not like EU Farm to Fork strategy to start with use the war in Ukraine as a pretext to try and stop it from happening,” he stated, referring to the EU’s flagship food and farming policy.

Comparing the agrifood sector to that of energy, Timmermans pointed out that while the war has increased the impetus on the energy transition, it has had the opposite effect on sustainable ambitions for the agricultural sector – but this is a road that the EU “should not go down,” he warned.

“If we don’t understand that the Farm to Fork is an attempt to save agriculture, not punish it, in light of the devastating effects of biodiversity loss and climate change on food production globally, we are really in a wrong attitude,” he said, calling on MEPs in the environment committee to act as an “ally to keep the Farm to Fork on the tracks”.

Edellä ovat kyllä tulleet esille perustelut sille, miksi "F2F" on kelvoton, riippumatta Ukrainan sodasta.

***

Suomessa tuota sotaa on yritetty käyttää keppihevosena toisin päin.

[Heikki Jokipii]

Nyt kävi niin, että EU-parlamentissa ohjelma muutoin hyväksyttiin, mutta ilman tätä tavoitetta:

European Parliament supports development of organic farming, but without 25% target by 2030 set out in ‘Farm to Fork’ strategy

On Tuesday 3 May, the European Parliament voted in favour of increasing organic production, but did not include in its assessment of the organic action plan the objective of achieving 25% of agricultural land in the EU under organic farming by 2030.

The report by Simone Schmiedtbauer (EPP, Austria) on the action plan for organic production, which was adopted by a very large majority (611 votes in favour, 14 against and 5 abstentions), thus favours the development of organic production...

Euractiv samasta:

MEPs massively back organic farming but snub Farm to Fork target

Oliko se juuri tämä poliitikko, joka onnistui muodostamaan eräänlaisen kompromissin? Ehkäpä tuon uuden linjauksen kypsyttelijöitä on ollut muitakin.

Joka tapauksessa voimme tuosta ottaa nyt ihan kotimaiseen käyttöön sen, että EU ei aseta pinta-alatavoitteita. Tai tavoitteita sen osuudelle.

[Heikki Jokipii]

Kyllä siitä opiksi voi ottaa. Nimittäin USA:

Viewpoint: Europe’s organic-centered farm policy is a blueprint for what the United States should not do

Tuossa oltiib kyllä jo tietoisia sen mahdollisesta revisiosta:

Now that Europe faces the effects of the war in Ukraine, the biggest parliamentary group in the European Parliament, the center-right EPP (European People’s Party Group) calls for the strategy to be called off. “[The strategy’s] objectives must be reviewed, because under no circumstances can Europe afford to produce less,” added French president Emmanuel Macron recently.

Ihan tuolla tavalla, ei käynyt. Ks. juuri edellä.

[Heikki Jokipii]

Tässä jäsenmaassa ei oltukaan tyytyväisiä EU:n luomuohjelmaan:

Agri-clash in Czechia over organic farming after war in Ukraine

Large Czech agribusinesses oppose the EU’s plan to extend organic farming to 25% of the land, warning against potential food price hikes amid an already challenging situation due to the war in Ukraine.

The EU harbours ambitious plans, as a part of its flagship Farm to Fork strategy, to ensure that at least 25% of all farmland is organic by 2030. Reactions have been mixed, with many farmers and some MEPs saying that the mandate will have a detrimental effect on the sector.

While currently, Czechia has over 15% of its farmland organically farmed, Czech farmers are not happy.

“We disagree with setting a mandatory percentage of organic farmland in the Member States,” Jan Doležal, the president of the Czech Republic’s Agrarian Chamber, told EURACTIV.cz.

Suomessa ainakin virallisesti ollaan.

[Heikki Jokipii]

Sanotaan reippaasti, mistä on kyse:

Viewpoint: EU’s Farm-to-Fork policy inevitably means plowing rainforests to meet Europe’s expanding food needs

And that’s the grand irony of Farm to Fork: It’s just a sleight of hand. The EU isn’t actually going carbon neutral; it’s just exporting its carbon emissions to other parts of the world. Unfortunately, that likely means we’ll continue to lose rainforests, despite the fact that they play such a pivotal role in regulating Earth’s climate.

https://www.agdaily.com/insights/perspective-the-eus-carbon-neutral-farm-plan-masks-the-real-impact/

[Heikki Jokipii]

Myös Espanjassa on kypsynyt tällainen näkemys:

Here’s why the invasion of Ukraine could prompt Europe to reform GMO food barriers and embrace gene edited crops

Russia’s war in Ukraine will inevitably hit the European Union’s environmental policy. Therefore, calls to ignore the European Green Deal and its variant for agriculture, the “Farm to fork” strategy, are multiplying, because they believe that it results in a decrease in agricultural production, at least in the old continent.

The National Federation of Farmers’ Unions (FNSEA) has already called to “restore food sovereignty as an absolute priority.” Like her, the agri-food unions (Ania and Cooperativa Agrícola) want to “put into production all the agricultural land available in France and in Europe”. Pierre Pagès , vice president of SEMAE (the seed interprofessional) sees the need to “produce more, but better” thanks to genetic engineering. Putting GMOs genetically modified organisms (GMOs) back into the debate, for many sectors, the EU must prepare to thoroughly review the regulations on the subject.

Eli luomua ei lainkaan tarvita. Vaan geenitekniikkaa.

[Heikki Jokipii]

Jos komission puheenjohtaja tässä korostaa tuotannon kasvattamista...

Von der Leyen urges EU to step up food production, Africa to boost precision farming

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called for the EU and Africa to step up efforts on food production, including via innovative farming techniques such as precision farming, in light of the war in Ukraine.

(lihav. HJ)

... kaikilla moderneilla keinoilla, hän ei anna tukeaan luomulinjalle. Kriisi näyttää tosiaan olevan nyt myös mahdollisuus. Mutta ei luomulle.

[Heikki Jokipii]

Mutta kaikki eivät anna periksi:

Choosing agroecology is not an option but an obligation, says researcher

While moving away from pesticides will create difficulties, particularly in terms of productivity, agroecology is the necessary solution to face this problem and ultimately generate gains in production, researcher Xavier Reboud told EURACTIV.

Europe and France are aiming to halve the use of pesticides by 2030, as laid out in both the Green Deal’s Farm to Fork strategy and the Ecophyto plan II+.

However, the implementation of these commitments remains uncertain. At the European level, there is a fierce debate between defenders of the European Green Deal and “productivists” who want to scale down ambitions in the name of food sovereignty.

Puhetta on tuossa vain torjunta-aineista. Jos olisi jatkettu, varmaankin tuo akroekologi olisi tuonut esiin syyn, miksi myös lannoitteiden käyttöä pitää vähentää.

Tuosta löysimme lempinimen tai haukkumasanan itsellemme. Me olemme produktivisteja. Myös luonnonsuojelullisista syistä.

[Heikki Jokipii]

Heti perään vastakkainen näkemys:

Viewpoint: Europe’s rejection of biotechnology in favor of organics has played an unfortunate role in today’s global food crisis. ‘Precision agriculture’ can help

Europe, less likely to face acute shortages, though increasing prices are straining household budgets, now has a moral duty to help alleviate the growing food insecurity gripping poorer countries by increasing its agricultural output. In order to balance this necessary increase in production with the EU’s long-standing commitment to protecting the environment, Europe must take decisive action to embrace both traditional plant science tools as well as increasingly sophisticated agricultural innovations and technology, boosting yields while reducing the environmental impact of farming.

(lihav. HJ)

Sellainen produktionistinen!

[Heikki Jokipii]

(Olikin) odotettavissa:

Czech Presidency: ‘Let’s forget about the Farm to Fork strategy for a few months’

It would be wise to forget about the EU’s flagship sustainable food policy, the Farm to Fork strategy, throughout the Czech Republic’s presidency to instead focus on increasing food production, Štěpán Černý, director-general for European Affairs for the Czech government told EURACTIV.

Amid the challenges posed by the war in Ukraine, focussing on producing enough food to meet demand should be a priority instead of decreasing it as Farm to Fork aims to do.

“Let’s maybe forget for a while on [the] Farm to Fork strategy […] for a couple of months, and let’s mobilise the foodstuff production as much as we can,” he said during a recent event.

Tätä mieltä on hänkin, Suomen Luken tutkija:

Tutkija: Ukraina ei palaa maailman viljamarkkinoille vielä ensi vuoden syksyllä
Nyt tarvitaan muiden tuottajamaiden vahvaa panosta, jotta viljaa saadaan myyntiin, Csaba Jansik sanoo.

[Heikki Jokipii]

Zarukin toinen täyslaidallinen:

Viewpoint: ‘Arrogance of affluence and ignorance of ideologues’: EU’s failing agroecology Farm-to-Fork strategy — and what can be done to ensure sustainable farming and food

Ensimmäiseen viitattiin täällä.

[Heikki Jokipii]

Tätä kansa toivoo:

Eurobarometri: Enemmistö eurooppalaisista toivoo, että maatalouspolitiikka takaisi ruuan kohtuullisen hintatason

Melkein puolet eurooppalaisista ajattelee EU:n yhteisen maatalouspolitiikan tärkeimmäksi tehtäväksi vakaan ruuantuotannon turvaaminen kaikissa tilanteissa.

Mutta tätä ei Pellosta pöytään -ohjelma edistä.

***

Mutta on se sitten toisaalta näinkin:

Alle puolet eurooppalaisista hyväksyy Venäjä-pakotteet, jos ne nostavat hintoja

Ukrainan sodan takia asetetut pakotteet Venäjää kohtaan saavat eurooppalaisilta laajaa kannatusta. Sen sijaan kun EU-kansalaisilta kysytään, saavatko vastatoimet vaikuttaa ruoan tai energian hinnannousuun, innostus laimenee. Tämä käy ilmi keskiviikkona julkaistusta Eurobarometristä.

Voisi siis kuvitella, että myös Farm to Fork saa laajaa kannatusta. Kunnes puhutaan hinnoista.

[Heikki Jokipii]

Nyt USA:ssa on myös tällainen pyrkimys:

Viewpoint: USDA poised to spend $300 million to help farmers transition to organic to shore up supply chains. Here’s why that’s a bad idea for food security and the environment

[The USDA] plans on spending $300 million to help farmers transition to organic production.

What??

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack defended this funding for organic farmers by suggesting it would somehow make farmers more profitable. In theory, organic products sell for a higher price. Vilsack believes that means farmers will see a larger portion of the sale price.

That’s a mighty big assumption that, to my knowledge, isn’t supported by any research or other evidence. Even if organic products fetch a higher retail price, organic yields are significantly lower than conventionally grown food. If you have less to sell, the price has to be higher to make the same money. And if the USDA successfully adds hundreds of millions of dollars in support, all those new organic farms will flood the market and drive prices down anyway.

Tällä kertaa hullutus on liikkunut Euroopasta sinne päin. Tähän asti luomu siellä on ollut selvästi Eurooppaa markkinaehtoisempaa. Eikä tuokaan muutos kyllä sitä valtavasti muuta, jos suhteuttaa tuon tuen väkilukuun (so. noin dollari per lärvi). Mutta tietysti uumoiltavissa on, että tuo on vasta alkua. Siirtymävaiheen tuesta täälläkin aloitettiin.