There were two prominent farm/food events this past week, pushing the theme of farmers as ‘agents of change’ for the green transition, which feeds into the UN World Food Systems Summit planned for September at the time of the UN General Assembly. Denmark hosted an extravaganza April 15-16, titled, “Better Food for More People,” the fifth such yearly event. Day one was moderated by Brent Loken, the World Wildlife Fund’s Global Food Lead Scientist, infamous for his EAT-Lancet Commission on Food, Planet, Health, which hides behind concern for nutrition, while staying within “planetary boundaries.”
Timed with the Danish international event, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization-USA hosted an event April 15, featuring U.S. and European farmers, co-hosted by the Danish Embassy in Washington, titled, “Farmers as Agents of Change in Greening Agriculture: Challenges & Opportunities.”
The World Bank spokesman declared that, worldwide, farmers get some $700 billion in subsidies which must be “repurposed” to “incentivize” farmers to pursue green practices, and not just focus on food production. They must not be supported to over-use fertilizer and such. The changes must take place in less than 10 years. He said that “500 million farmers in this world are on the frontline of climate change,” so focus on “giving them a voice.” He spoke droopily about how farmers and miners should be helped in the transition, and understood as “victims” of a system that needs to be greened. “Rural transition” is a problem for farmers the way that coal miners have a problem with mines shutting down. (Does your food come from the grocery store, and your electricity from solar, when the Sun don’t shine?)
