In this week's episode, tracy speaks to Senior Policy Analyst Bill Wirtz about the European Farmer Protests.
Across Europe, farmers have rallied against changes in government policies and aggressive government environmental goals that are affecting business practices, harming food production, and seeing farmers in some countries having their farmers taken/bought out by the government.
Tracy spoke to Bill Wirtz from the Consumer Choice Center to get the details of the European farmer protests.
In this episode, Tracy and Bill speak about:
- The uprising of farmers across Europe and what has been happening since January 8th when the German farmers declared a week long protest.
- To provide the whole picture, Bill takes us back to October 2019 when the Dutch Farmers started protesting their government's aggressive environmental goals, which called for a reduction in nitrous oxide and the call for hundreds of farmers to sell their farms to the government to assist the Dutch government in meeting their environmental goals.
- Flash forward to January 8th of this year as we see the German farmers kick off a week of nationwide protests against "subsidy cuts" or the end of tax breaks, depending on how you view it. Bill shares more.
- Since January 8th, Europe has seen farmers from country after country rise and join German farmers. Tracy asks Bill why these additional countries joined.
- In Europe, there is a lot of talk about "the Green New Deal." Bill shares more about how European governments have ambitious environmental goals. He shares how these lofty ideas are impacting farmers. He shares essential information here for anyone watching the European protests.
- What about North America? There is a lot of talk in Canada and the United States about the environment, climate change, sustainability, ESG, and goals such as the 30% reduction in Nitrous Oxide. Are these stringent environmental policies headed for North America? What do farmers need to know?
- Last, Tracy asks Bill if he thinks farmers are right to take these actions.
If you have been watching the European farm protests and are wondering what exactly is going on and why…this episode is for you.
This was such a valuable episode. If you are a farmer anywhere in the World, please don't miss this episode.
Thanks for tuning in,
Tracy
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RESOURCES
Consumer Choice Center - https://consumerchoicecenter.org/team/bill-wirtz/
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