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Rethinking the Role of the Producer in Society
2007-11-04
August 4, 2003 - Northern Great Plains Inc. and the Great Plains Institute for Sustainable Development coordinated a study program on environmentally sensitive or reasonable agriculture practices in Europe and the relationship to food products. Held July 6 - 13, 2003, the objectives of the study program were to provide participants with an understanding of the European view of the role of the producer in preserving the environment and how European farmers are responding to concerns about the environment and food safety; to gain an understanding of the role of the consumer in determining European agriculture practices; to learn how the processing and retail food sectors are responding to consumer concerns about food safety and environmentally sensitive farming practices; and, to learn about how EU policies are impacting decisions producers are making in the production practices they use.
Specific areas of study Included:
- Environmentally sensitive farming and production practices and/or ‘reasonable or integrated’ methods with a focus on grains, animals and animal feed, and vegetables;
- Aggregation distribution and processing of sustainable agriculture products;
- Market and policy drivers of reasonable or sustainable agriculture – especially at the EU policy level;
- Conflict resolution among producers, processors, consumers and policymakers regarding demands for changes in farming practices;
- The role of the consumer in determining European agricultural practices; and,
- How a producers can be profitable while using environmentally sensitive agriculture practices profitable.
Program participants toured selected sites France, Belgium and the Netherlands. The Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, contacts at the European parliament, and contacts in the French grain industry helped organize meetings and site visits. Participants included a variety of people from the agricultural sector – including farmers, ranchers and food processors, manufacturing, education and research, government, and non-profits sectors; primarily from the Northern Great Plains region of the United States and Canada.
One interesting item worth noting during this intense time of study centered on an emerging movement by large (often national) grocery store chains in Europe to establish specific environmental standards for producers/farmers to follow if the processor wants their product in the grocery store. In fact, a group of large chains has established a private sector program called EUREPGAP to set standards about food safety and quality. The grocery store chains either are, or intend to put labels on their products indicating the product was produced under environmentally friendly conditions. They are doing this to gain competitive advantage and to demonstrate their real concern about food safety and quality.
Additionally, processors are also developing programs to respond to concerns about environmentally sensitive agriculture practices and rural community economic and social well-being. Unilever (maybe the largest food processing company in the world) and Heineken are now conducting pilot projects in sustainability. Unilever has projects in Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. Heineken has projects in Holland and France. Unilever is looking to develop a worldwide systematic approach to sustainable agriculture and sustainable development that considers environmental, social and economic issues.
