There is much to say about these events, one sentence that caught my eye was: "Why are we so strict in Belgium and in the Netherlands? Because we are already exceeding the critical loads.”
I’m new to this community, and happy to see that this Europe Community is alive and kicking;) So thanks for having me, and your input in these comments.
Concerning subsidies in The Netherlands, all farmers in EU apply for EU subsidies. I found an interesting piece about it in Dutch, and here is the English translation: Link followthemoney EN
One foreseeable problem is that right now foodprices have been going up. Imo, if 40% of the farmers that constitute the second lagest agricultural producer of the world( The Netherlands) , will close shop, how will that ever have a positive for foodprices worldwide? Also, momentarily The Netherlands has the leading technology to revolutionize agriculture in more sustainable ways.
A third consideration I see, is that although pollution is very high, part of this has to do with productivity and population density and being a very small country etc. So, as I understand it, if the Dutch would have a bigger country the levels would be lower. Then again that wouldn’t change the net world nitrogen pollution levels, I believe. It would only be shifted or less visible in a larger area.
Hence, yes, this issue raises many questions and there are no simple answers, nor is there any easy solution. Something is being done for the climate and pollution control. The world’s population and energy usage is only growing; while the crises become more urgent by the day. I hope we make the right choices.
The Netherlands is only the worlds second largest producer because it’s counted in monetary value, and flowers are very expensive. A lot of figures on our -export- of agricultural production also count produce which is imported via Rotterdam harbour and the exported. The Netherlands is not that important at all.
True, most data is in money, and yes I reckon that flowers are part of the agricultural produce. But, for the rest, you are downplaying the role of the the Netherlands way too much.
“In 2017, the Netherlands exported $111 billion worth of agricultural goods, including $10 billion of flowers and $7.4 billion of vegetables.”
As you can see, flowers account only for 9% of the export. Also, they are leading in sustainable agriculture.
[] link (https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/11/netherlands-dutch-farming-agriculture-sustainable/)
how farmers will compete with foreign products without the same pollution requirements
That’s the big issue. Even if dutch farmers agree to implement costly measures to limit emissions and pollution, unless this is enforced EU wide, this will just drive them out of business and move the pollution problem somewhere else. And I do not really see this happening EU wide in any foreseeable future.
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Dingdingding! We have a winner!
This is exactly the problem. Our farmers (or at least a portion of them) have gotten used to being allowed pretty much anything and are now finding out that wrecking the environment is actually not something which is allowed.
The problem with the nitrate pollution is, that everyone in the affected area is paying for it. They are paying for it, by requireing extra steps to clean the water before it is drinkable, by causing more cancer and other diseases straining the healthcare system and ultimately by destroying the soil so much that the agriculture will just fail at some point and then relying on 100% imports.
The farmera rallying against it are extremely selfish, and worse they are on a path of destroying themselves and taking the entire country with them.
No loss in market value can be relevant enough to permanently destroy your countries ability to grow food.
this will just drive them out of business and move the pollution problem somewhere else
why would this move the pollution problem somewhere else, and if that did happen, why do you think the European states in question would not address this influx of nitrogen pollution in their borders
the netherlands has too many farmers, its a business thats so ridiculously oversaturated with supply that theyve been entirely reliant on government subsidy for years, all entirely for the sake of profit considering 70% is sent over the border
frankly, most of these businesses shouldnt exist and the farmers revolt weve been experiencing is practically just factory owners throwing a hissy fit over their failing businesses finally getting bought out now that the blatantly disfunctional system theyve been leeching off has finally broken down
Because there obviously is a demand for the produce and the market will not contact, instead it will supply elsewhere, whether it is cheap and not regulated yet. Probably regulations will catch up, but this is incredibly slow process and first thing will have to get bad. I am in no way saying keep things the same, quiet the oposite, it is not enough and has to happen across the entire european farm industry.
We have an influx of plant-based aka vegan replacement products. While they still need to get cheaper (relative to animal products; also, hello EU subsidy system!), there is a chance that these products could replace a large portion of animal products while being healthier, environmentally more friendly and more efficient to produce.
All evidence points to the contrary regarding health. Animal products are much more nutrient dense, and contain vitamins and minerals that don’t exist in plants and others that are much more bioavailable than their inferior plant versions, such as iron, protein and vitamin A.
