International Agricultural Policy

Industrial agriculture is responsible for both colossal environmental and climate damage as well as global injustice. It is high time for a socially and politically oriented regulation of the agrifood industry. We hope that this atlas will stimulate a broad-based social debate on this vital topic.

In many southern montane regions of the EU, the growing presence of immigrants has come to counterbalance the decline and ageing of the local rural populations and agricultural workforce. The paper examines problems as well as potentials of this development.  

Crop-picking in both Italy and Spain, increasingly depends on migrant workers. The paper analyzes the most important aspects of recruitment strategies, living conditions and institutional regulations in both countries.

In the current context of continued economic recession, the secondary labour market for temporary migrant workers in Greece has become increasingly precarious. This is exemplified by the strawberry production in Manolada.

Food production rarely has anything to do with small-scale farming, traditional craftsmanship, or unspoiled nature. Today, it is primarily a lucrative business run by a few large corporations that divide the fields and markets among themselves.

More and more people want to know how their food, and especially the meat they eat, is produced. The new Fleischatlas 2016 – Deutschland Regional  takes a look at the federal states and shows how social demands and the reality of meat production in many places are far apart.

Many of the world's largest agro-industrial corporations are pushing forward the poorly-defined idea of "Climate-Smart Agriculture"(CSA) to re-market industrial agriculture as 'climate-ready'. This report uncovers how some advocates of CSA are embracing the extreme genetic engineering tools of synthetic biology ("Syn Bio") to develop a set of false solutions to the climate crisis.

To mark the International Year of Soils, the Bodenatlas 2015 presents facts and figures on the importance and condition of land, soils, and arable land in Germany, Europe, and worldwide. In keeping with tradition, the Bodenatlas offers numerous graphics and articles providing up-to-date insights into the condition and threats to the soils on which we depend.

Through misuse, we lose 24 billion tonnes of fertile soil every year. For the International Year of Soils in 2015, this Atlas shows, why the soil should concern us all. Jointly published by the Heinrich Böll Foundation and the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies.

When only the prime cuts end up on our plates and the rest of the animal is used for energy production or as fertilizer, this has little to do with appreciation. In this “Fleischatlas Extra,” we provide information about the animals you do not eat.