Agroecology and politics: On the importance of public policies in Europe

Abstract

In this paper, we discuss about the most appropriate strategy for spreading agroecology and getting agricultural sustainability in Europe, where the agriculture is highly industrialised, very dependent of the public subsidies, and the peasant has disappeared practically. We claimed for a sustainable food system, that they are necessary not only for the health of European agroecosystems and the wellbeing of the farmers but also for the food autonomy of countries whose production is overturned too much to meet the European demands of animal feeding and to maintain an unsustainable diet. From an agroecological perspective, the most coherent solution is promoting the sustainable degrowth of the European food system. The organic agriculture and the fair consumption could be the most suitable way to achieve it, two proposals that should go indissolubly united. But this will not be possible without a change in public policies and institutional framework.