According to the Vice-President of the European Commission, consumers, producers, and farmers are trapped in a food system that has led to excessive dependence on synthetic substances and imported feed. He described this as the agro-industrial complex.
Timmermans gave his speech at a conference at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL), in the presence of German Minister Cem Özdemir and President Winfried Kretschmann of the state of Baden-Württemberg.
This was not the first time Timmermans spoke about the income and future of the agricultural sector, but until now primarily in the ENVI environment committee of the European Parliament. Recently, he also spoke at a university in Italy about the income position of agriculture.
Without explicitly naming the recent European Commission proposals for reducing pesticides in agriculture (SUR), Timmermans did not use the word ‘ban’ but said ‘that we must replace half of the chemical pesticides with alternatives, with more knowledge and precision and the use of the latest technologies’.
With this plea, Timmermans echoed an earlier call from Dutch MEP Jan Huitema (VVD), who last year in an interview with Nieuwe Oogst pointed out that it is better to speak of ‘replacement’ rather than ‘banning’.
However, he emphasized that reducing greenhouse gas emissions is one thing, but improving the state of nature is also necessary to sustainably produce sufficient and secure food. ‘We need to restore soil health because every farmer can tell you: you cannot grow food on dead soil’.
According to the Climate Commissioner, we have known for thirty years that climate change is coming, and we now see that floods after heavy rain in Germany, Belgium, and Limburg wash away buildings, bridges, and highways.
He also pointed to Italy and Spain, where drought is an increasing problem and large parts of the countries are gradually turning into deserts. Climate change and loss of biodiversity will also have consequences for our food security, he warned.
‘Climate change is coming, whether we want it or not. We can prepare ourselves against it. Let us get ready. The longer we wait, the more expensive and difficult it will become’.
‘We are in a food system where the farmer’s income is not automatically guaranteed. It is a system where traditionally eighty percent of the CAP agricultural subsidies end up in the pockets of twenty percent of people who often are not even farmers themselves. This leads to a system where two-thirds of the grain is intended for animal feed and is not used for human consumption,’ said Timmermans.
He noted that not only agriculture but the entire food chain must become more sustainable, and that supermarket chains, transport, and processing will also have to contribute. ‘Let me be clear: I am not pointing a finger at agriculture. We must be the allies of the farmers. They are stuck in a system that benefits only a few’.
Timmermans said the current generation must be aware that future generations depend on the decisions we make today. ‘We must invest money in the future of agriculture, not in the pockets of the agro-industrial complex. We need to invest in the lives of farmers. If we want a future for our children, we must invest in nature, and we must start doing so now,’ he concluded his speech.