Agrifood Brief

This week, EURACTIV's agrifood team takes a look at the ways in which the agrifood sector is starting to feel the brunt of the energy crisis, we speak with Andreas Schweiger, professor for plant ecology at the University of Hohenheim, to hear about the ways in which solar panels can be incorporated into the farming sector and the potential problems and opportunities this could bring, and we bring you a very special flavour of the week all the way from Brazil. 

Hello and welcome back to the EURACTIV Agrifood Podcast! This week we discuss the very first approvals of the Common Agricultural Policy national strategic plans, and we give you a run down of a particularly fiery debate over pesticides in the European Parliament. We also hear from EURACTIV’s very own Yaroslava Bukhta about what has been happening in Ukrainian agriculture in August, and we welcome Mi Young Kwon of the Korean cultural centre to discuss a special Korean festival for our flavour of the week.

This week in our last agrifood podcast of the season, EURACTIV's agrifood team looks ahead at the key topics of the summer, including the impact that drought is having, and will continue to have, on the agricultural sector across the EU, the Russia-Ukraine grain deal brokered by Turkey and some sneaky dealings around the sustainable use of pesticides regulation. We also speak about the recent proposal to extend derogations to Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) environmental measures into 2023, and the latest on all things CAP plans, the first of which we expect to win approval in early September. 

That's all from us this season - we look forward to bringing you the latest EU agriculture news each week back after the summer break!

This week, EURACTIV’s agrifood team discusses the long-awaited outcome of the European Court of Justice’s ruling on feta cheese, which sets a precedent for the protection of geographical indications outside the EU’s borders, and we take a look at the latest on the glyphosate debate as well as the crucial EU reform on agricultural statistics. We are also joined by Stelios Arhondakis, CEO at BioCoS, a company developing an olive oil anti-fraud tool, and we explore a mystery Game of Thrones themed flavour of the week.

This week, EURACTIV’s agrifood team talks food security and concerns over grain shortages, as highlighted in the European Commission’s latest agricultural outlook report, we are joined by Kristian Sniter from the EU court of auditors to hear about their latest report on fraud risks in the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), including practices such as land-grabbing, and we take a closer look at a natural 'LSD' for our flavour of the week.

This week, EURACTIV’s agrifood team talks about the implications of the newly signed EU-New Zealand free trade agreement on the agrifood sector, we speak with Dmitrij Černikov, COREPER I spokesperson for the Czech permanent representation to the EU, about the priorities of the Czech Presidency when it comes to agriculture and, in keeping with the main theme of the week, we take a closer look at kiwis for our flavour of the week.

This week, EURACTIV’s agrifood team discusses the much-awaited unveiling of the EU’s new pesticide framework and what we expect to be discussed on food security by the G7 leaders gathered in Schloss Elmau, Bavaria. For the flavour of the week, we tasted the diversity of mangoes grown in India and spoke to the Indian agriculture attaché to India’s permanent representation to the EU about the importance of this fruit for the country’s agriculture production and how geographical indications bring value to it.

This week, EURACTIV’s agrifood team talks you through the EU’s pesticide framework revision and the 12th World Trade Organisation (WTO) ministerial meeting. We also spoke to Simonas Šatūnas, head of cabinet of the EU's environment Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius, about nature restoration targets and we had a very special tasting session of this week’s flavour of the week: the first insect approved in EU for human consumption.

This week, we welcome the EURACTIV agrifood team’s newest recruit, Yaroslava Bukhta, to speak about her interview with the Ukrainian deputy-minister of agriculture and his take on the EU’s solidarity lanes proposal. We also hear from Gerardo about his recent adventures in the salt marshes of Cadiz bay national park in Spain, and we learn all about the Ukrainian berry Kalyna, which also holds significant symbolism for the country.

This week, EURACTIV’s agrifood team talks you through what happened in last week’s meeting of EU leaders, which had a strong emphasis on food security, we hear from a tour guide on the island of Sardinia about the role prisoners played, and continue to play, in its agricultural sector, and we take a closer look at honey and the sad reality for beekeepers dealing with a changing climate.