Dutch farms 3

(cont'd from yesterday's post)

Looks like Dutch farmers are losing this conflict (protests started in 2019) with their government. Last summer the government of the Netherlands announced their plan to force 2000-3000 farmers to sell their farms.

"Climate Change" is the reason given. The government wants to cut nitrogen output in half by 2030. They claim that meat is the villain, and they're getting ready for that shortage which is  coming. A city west of Amsterdam has placed a ban on advertising meat in public places, to take effect in 2024. 

One agriculture expert thinks the campaign against meat is "shortsighted and misconceived." She says it's happening because "poor research and misconceptions blame meat for being a major contributor to climate change without understanding any of the nuances of that statement.”

According to another agriculture expert, Europe in general is taking steps similar to The Netherlands'. America, though, has a different approach. “The U.S. is saying they can reduce livestock emissions while producing more food and they’re going to do it through technology and innovation.” 

Sounds like a more reasonable approach.

from Beef Central

Dutch farms

Dutch farmers don't feel respected. But disrespect is not their main problem. They are actually being threatened by their government. 

High courts in The Netherlands handed down a judgment that the country was not making enough progress toward cutting CO2 emissions in the campaign against climate change. In response, the government is pressuring farmers to cut way back on their herds of livestock, maybe reducing their numbers up to 50%.

That's like telling any other business that they must stop producing or selling half of their products. It's a heavy blow to farm families, with potentially serious consequences. Farmers in 2019 started demanding respect for their businesses and organizing big protests, using equipment to block traffic and food distribution centers. 

You have to wonder what else the government considered beyond just CO2 emissions. The Netherlands is the second biggest exporter of agricultural products in the world after the U.S. What will happen to their economy? What will happen when the supply of meat to their own citizens is drastically cut?

"What will happen then?" It's the absolutely essential question in decision making.

from Wikipedia

(cont'd tomorrow)

Crickets

Follow up to these posts

Climate change is a big, important issue for the European Union (EU) in all their policy-making. It is the primary issue behind closing down farms in The Netherlands. It is an issue for energy decisions like Germany's goal to shut down their nuclear plants ("climate neutral").

Regarding the forcible closing of farms, I raised a question of food security - namely, what will happen to the supply of food for the Dutch people and for the people who import Dutch meat? 

One answer to that question may be revealed now. This month the EU approved the addition of a fourth insect variety that may be added to foods. "House crickets" will be grown, starved for 24 hours, killed, and ground into powder. They will be added at the rate of 1%-2.5% into foods like manufactured snacks.

This author says that the policy may make sense to Europeans because they want to devote large land areas to solar farms and wind rather than to farming. That's the connection to climate change. 

But don't worry, the choice of whether to eat insects instead of meat is still a personal choice in Europe. So far.

Note: I didn't include a repulsive picture in this post. Google it.

Dutch farms 2

(cont'd from yesterday's posts)

Maybe the farmers are right, in a way, about being disrespected. You'd think that food producers would have a "say" in national discussions about food. But it looks like the decision to reduce food production and the size of farms is a done deal. It's moving ahead.

Food production does create pollutants. But does it follow that the solution is to cut off food production? Isn't that awfully drastic? No, the politicians are just fine with that. "The end result is expected to be close to a one-third reduction in the numbers of pigs, cows and chickens in the country.

One of them says, “We have to move away from the low-cost model of food production.” So his plan for his country is that food will become more expensive and less accessible. 

There must be a better way to solve this than to force food insecurity on the people.

from FEE

(cont'd tomorrow)

Europe's farms 1

Farmers in Europe are really upset. 

Angry farmers are protesting in Germany, Romania, France, Greece, Bulgaria and other countries. Thousands used tractors, fire, manure to get the attention of their governments because they have the impression that nobody is listening.

photo

Rising taxes and regulations are part of the problem, but there may be an agenda for farms that's bigger than taxes and regulations. Dutch farmers were told that the government plans to seize 2000-3000 farms. In Ireland, the government wants to "eliminate" 200,000 cows. 

(cont'd tomorrow)

Dutch farms 4

Follow-up to these posts

Farmers made their point with public opinion over the past two years in The Netherlands. They stood up to their government and won over voters, to the point that just last week they won 15 seats in parliament for their new political party, the BBB. 

In a democracy, you take your complaint to the public. If many of them agree with you, they will vote in people with different policies. That's how it works. That's what happened. 

photo

from Reuters

More food 2

Innovation requires the freedom to do research and try ideas. There's also a material cost of actual money. Successful fish farming progresses when there's money to buy the censors and pumps they need to try things (yesterday's post), of course, and farther-out ideas can be tried when there's a lot more money available.

Saudi Arabia's prince has billions upon billions to spend on projects like his experimental city, Neom. They've hired a Dutch greenhouse company to design and build a "synthetic climate" area just outside that city where crops can be grown. 

photo

We're talking about an area the size of fifteen football fields in extremely hot, arid conditions. Most of their food is imported because ordinary farms won't work here. Two test facilities will be built and operated by the Dutch firm.

"Food security is a priority for the planners of Neom, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s $500 billion showpiece project to turn an expanse of desert the size of Belgium into a high-tech region that may eventually host millions of people."

(Maybe this story belongs in the category of "dreams of billionaires" rather than "good news.")

from Bloomberg