Скачать или смотреть Thomas Pringle TD - Farming - Budget 2021

We can’t mention Climate Change and not talk about Farming in Ireland. The point was made at Monday’s briefing that we seem to just be looking at Ireland’s impact, without acknowledging the environmental cost of importing beef from Brazil, for example. Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael continue to work with big AG, the Agri-food industry and major farm organisations which support the Industrial Model of food production to the detriment of smaller, more sustainable farmers. During this pandemic, we’ve been asking people to ‘support local and shop local’. This is equally true of food produce. People generally want healthy and nutritious food.

Ireland signed up to the Sustainable Development Goals and declared a Climate and Biodiversity Emergency yet we are not regenerating our ecosystems to produce healthy food with less polluting impacts. In Brussels, Fine Gael & Fianna Fáil MEP’s are busy delivering for the Industrial Food Lobby and Ireland’s privileged farmer class. CAP Money, whose aim it is to deliver affordable, healthy food to Irish and EU citizens and a basic standard of living for EU farmers, is divided in Ireland on the 80/20 principle. Around 80% goes to a select class of 20% of farmers (from 2004 to now) while about 20% of the CAP money goes to 80% of the farmers (the bulk of which are up and down the North western seaboard).

These low farm payment farmers, predominantly extensive beef suckler farmers, consistently need top ups for their cattle rearing to break even or turn a profit. So, in yesterday’s budget, we see €102 million extra for livestock farming – €85 million for ‘sustainable’ beef farming which includes €5 million for new calf weighing measures for beef farmers raising dairy calves. Where are the supports to farmers growing local, organic fresh fruit and vegetables and other sustainable crops, for example hemp?

Ireland is a net contributor to the CAP, so our citizens pay for the food to be produced by Irish farmers for the Irish and EU citizens. Simply put, the Irish citizen is paying to give the beef and dairy industry a cheap supply of beef and milk for them to process, export and pocket the profit while at the same time eating food that comes from everywhere except Ireland. Food sovereignty is essential for food security to be met in a manner that respects decent work and human rights and that has environmentally conscious production. It matters how food and fibre and fuel is made, and by whom.