Food for Change Newsletter

It's a big week for Good Food Good Farming!

Today, we launch our joint position paper “Towards a Just, Resilient & Future-Fit EU”, full of concrete solutions to create better EU food systems. Then, we head to Brussels to take them to the politicians who need to hear them.

Alongside our position paper, we’ve got our European Recipes for Change cook book, packed with grassroots visions from nine countries for better food and farming. These demands will go straight to the Commission and MEPs with a clear message: a reformed CAP must provide robust market regulation, subsidies allocated towards public goods, support for generational renewal and advancement of gender, social, and environmental justice.

For farmers, citizens and nature, the stakes couldn’t be higher. The EU spends billions shaping agriculture, but still isn’t funding the transformation we urgently need. Over 90% of Europeans want a CAP that delivers healthy food, thriving farms, and sustainable agriculture, yet 80% of CAP subsidies go to 20% of farms, whose intensive practices damage the environment.

As EU decision makers discuss the next budget, civil society demands that the EU funds a just agroecological transition. From social and economic justice to the agroecological transition and supporting marginalised farmers, let’s push for strong CAP reform that funds future-fit, just systems!

Much of the focus of Donald Trump’s tariffs has been on tech and cars, but how are they affecting EU agriculture? 

Trump’s revived tariffs target European exports like wine, cheese, and olive oil - key contributors to the €25.1 billion in EU food and beverage sales to the U.S in 2024. Italy's food exports to the U.S. in 2024 alone had a value of around €7.8 billion.

In response, the EU is fast-tracking trade deals with countries like Mexico and Australia. But any new agreements must not come at the cost of lowering environmental or food safety standards. That risk is real. Past deals, like Mercosur, created weaker production practices and unfair competition.

This moment should also renew calls for EU food sovereignty. That means not just diversifying trade, but reinforcing support for European farmers so that the EU can produce as much food as sustainably possible. That requires a reformed Common Agricultural Policy that starts supporting farmers, citizens and nature and stops prioritising global competitiveness over everything else.

Further, as external pressures like Trump's tariffs and the climate crisis increase, internal tensions within the EU are also rising. As member states demand more flexibility over their agriculture, Brussels must ensure that CAP's environmental requirements remain clear, enforceable, and non-negotiable.   

Serves: 1 mega-corporation (or 0.003% of the population)
Prep time: 70 years of lobbying

Ingredients:

10,000 hectares of monoculture.

3 hedge funds (substitute with generational wealth if easier).

A handful of loopholes.

A tank of pesticide (the bigger the better).

100 small farmers.

A splash of greenwash.

A dash of PR.

Method:

Take your hedge funds and mix them together with as much land as possible. Don’t worry if you’re not actually a farmer - the CAP system won’t notice!

Heat small farmers over low income until they jump out of the pot. We only want to be left with a few so they don’t disturb the main dish.

Add your monocultures and chemical inputs and stir until the soil is lifeless. Sprinkle your greenwash in now to boost the flavour.

Stick it all in a strong and opaque roasting tin. This part is key - the less the outside world sees of our dish while it’s cooking, the better!

Ready to serve! As one of the few mega farms in Europe, you will now receive most of the CAP subsidies. 

Does this sound like a recipe for disaster? Hungry for an alternative? 

For a lighter, fairer, and more sustainable dish, check out and help share our key ingredients for just, resilient food systems in the EU!