EuroChoices最新文献

This article examines post-harvest technologies and practices tailored to small-scale operations, highlighting their potential to reduce food loss. A comprehensive approach to conceptualising post-harvest technologies is proposed across various stages of the value chain. By categorising solutions into three clusters – traditional practices, technology-driven approaches, and collaborative, community-centred strategies – the article provides practical examples. The specific characteristics of short food supply chains are considered throughout, recognising both the opportunities and challenges these systems present for small-scale producers. While many post-harvest technologies are designed for larger market actors, smaller producers often rely on alternative strategies, drawing on direct relationships with consumers to achieve greater flexibility and sustainability. Balancing cost-efficiency with sustainability requires prioritising traditional and community-driven practices, despite the time and collaboration these approaches may demand to succeed. However, these efforts can yield additional benefits, fostering knowledge-sharing, strengthening community ties, and ultimately contributing to more resilient and efficient food systems. Policy recommendations are also presented including tailored training programmes, regulatory adaptations, and the promotion of digital platforms to improve market access and reduce administrative burdens. Overall, the article demonstrates how targeted post-harvest strategies can help small-scale producers reduce food loss, contributing to broader sustainability, economic resilience, and food security goals across Europe.

This paper examines the development of the European Association of Agricultural Economists (EAAE) over the past fifty years and its impact on the field of agricultural economics. Established in 1975 to foster international collaboration – particularly within Europe – the EAAE has played a key role in promoting knowledge exchange among agricultural economists. Over time, the organisation has expanded its scope through congresses, seminars and scientific publications, including the European Review of Agricultural Economics (ERAE), EuroChoices and Q Open.

An analysis of congress and seminar themes reveals a shift in research focus from traditional agricultural economics to broader issues such as consumer behaviour, food systems, sustainability and climate change. While globalisation and food safety became dominant topics in the 1990s, the 21st century has seen increasing focus on consumer issues, digital innovations and food system transformations. The EAAE has not only responded to policy developments and scientific innovations but has also actively shaped policy debates and knowledge dissemination.

Beyond academic output, the EAAE has invested in supporting early-career researchers through PhD workshops and mentoring programmes. At the same time, in-person congresses and seminars remain central to the scientific community, despite the rise of digital knowledge-sharing platforms. The findings of this study underscore the continued relevance of the EAAE as a platform for scientific exchange and policy-oriented discussions within agricultural economics.

This paper presents a new, open-access database of food policies, the European Food Policy Database (EU F-POD). It is a comprehensive and collaborative on-line resource, and goes beyond a mere list of food policies by offering a structured collection of food policies classified by goals, targets, and instruments, drawing from existing and validated taxonomies. It consists of an organized and cohesive body of national and international laws, regulations, and provisions related to the food area, to facilitate consultation, interpretation and policy analysis. More specifically, it may help identify normative gaps, contradictions or overlaps between existing rules, and regulatory differences between states, fostering discussions among various multi-sectoral actors. The EU F-POD database is comprehensive in scope, ensuring the inclusion of policies for all objectives, targets, and instruments within its framework. We describe the EU F-POD database, its structure, definition, and data collection strategy, including also some extraction examples to demonstrate the potential of such a tool to users. EU F-POD was designed as an open access tool, so that a supervised, collaborative effort among researchers and experts can guarantee its future sustainability and updating.

Regenerative agriculture has gained attention for its potential to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from crop production and improve farm profitability through practices like cover cropping and reduced tillage. However, empirical data suggest that the carbon storage potential and economic benefits of these methods are often overstated. Research shows that the capacity of these practices to sequester carbon is limited. Furthermore, under challenging climatic conditions, these techniques can even reduce crop yields.

The paper demonstrates that economic benefits are often based on assumptions that do not account for challenges, such as the limited feasibility of cover crops in certain cropping systems and exaggerated savings from reduced inputs. Moreover, the potential for ‘leakage’ – where lower yields lead to land conversion and emissions elsewhere – raises further concerns about the effectiveness of the concept.

A more promising approach lies in improving nitrogen-use efficiency, which addresses the major source of GHG emissions from crop production while reducing input costs and improving productivity. Unlike regenerative practices that often depend on subsidies, improving nitrogen use efficiency offers stable, measurable results without yield penalties or the need for continuous financial compensation of growers. This ensures long-term sustainability and climate benefits, making it a more promising strategy.

Les politiques alimentaires urbaines sont des instruments intéressants que les villes utilisent pour relever les défis multidimensionnels de la sécurité alimentaire, de la sûreté alimentaire et de la durabilité dans les contextes urbains. À mesure que l'urbanisation se poursuit, ces politiques offrent des solutions ciblées, impliquant des efforts coordonnés des pouvoirs publics municipaux, de la société civile et des parties prenantes, et favorisant la durabilité et la résilience locales. Elles sont mises en œuvre sous quatre formes, à savoir des interventions de fond (par exemple, les cantines scolaires et les centres alimentaires), réglementaires (par exemple, les normes de sécurité alimentaire et d'hygiène pour les vendeurs ambulants), fiscales (par exemple, les taxes sur les boissons sucrées) et informatives (par exemple, les campagnes de promotion de pratiques alimentaires durables). À mesure que les villes s'étendent, elles sont confrontées à des problèmes importants, tels que les disparités d'accès à la nourriture, la malnutrition croissante, la dégradation de l'environnement et l'accumulation du gaspillage alimentaire. Les politiques alimentaires urbaines peuvent aller au-delà des politiques nationales traditionnelles, en intégrant des interventions ciblées qui abordent et prennent en compte les problèmes spécifiques de la vie urbaine. Les principaux objectifs clés sont d'assurer la sécurité et la sûreté alimentaires, de préserver la biodiversité et réduire la pollution dans les systèmes alimentaires urbains et périurbains, de gérer le gaspillage alimentaire, de proposer des régimes alimentaires sains et durables et de sauvegarder l'identité culturelle. Toutefois, l'efficacité de ces politiques dépend d'une gouvernance multi-niveaux solide, de la collaboration et de la volonté politique, visant des objectifs locaux conformes aux objectifs de développement durable. La contribution des politiques alimentaires urbaines peut permettre aux villes de relever les défis actuels et futurs liés à l'alimentation de manière holistique.

Städtische Ernährungspolitik ist ein wertvolles Instrument, mit dem die Städte die multidimensionalen Herausforderungen der Ernährungssicherheit, der Lebensmittelsicherheit und der Nachhaltigkeit in städtischen Kontexten angehen können. Angesichts der fortschreitenden Urbanisierung bieten diese Maßnahmen gezielte Lösungen, die koordinierte Anstrengungen der Stadtverwaltungen, der Zivilgesellschaft und der Interessengruppen umfassen und die lokale Nachhaltigkeit und Widerstandsfähigkeit fördern. Es gibt vier Arten von Maßnahmen: materielle (z. B. Schulkantinen und Lebensmittelzentren), regulative (z. B. Lebensmittelsicherheits- und Hygienestandards für Straßenverkäufer), steuerliche (z. B. Steuern auf zuckerhaltige Getränke) und informative Maßnahmen (z. B. Kampagnen zur Förderung nachhaltiger Lebensmittelpraktiken). In dem Maße, wie die Städte wachsen, werden sie mit wichtigen Problemen konfrontiert, wie z. B.

Le secteur de la bière des États baltes, autrefois florissant, a été décimé et uniformisé en une bière de production de masse de mauvaise qualité à l'époque soviétique. Dans ce contexte, l'article examine la situation de la micro-bière et de la bière artisanale dans les États baltes, en explorant leur croissance historique, les changements réglementaires, les facteurs culturels et économiques et les principales différences entre les trois pays. L'accent est mis sur l'Estonie, la Lettonie et la Lituanie, où la bière artisanale a de nouveau pris le pas sur les spiritueux traditionnels comme la vodka.

Ce changement reflète les changements culturels et économiques plus larges dans la région. En Lituanie, la renaissance des anciennes techniques de brassage à la ferme a été au cœur du mouvement de la bière artisanale. La Lettonie, avec sa forte histoire brassicole influencée par l'Allemagne, a vu le secteur de la bière artisanale émerger comme une force compétitive, malgré la domination des grandes brasseries. Cependant, les micro-brasseries lettones sont confrontées aux défis issus des acteurs établis. L'Estonie, malgré un démarrage tardif, a rapidement développé une industrie de la bière artisanale florissante, portée par sa solide infrastructure numérique et son esprit d'entreprise, en particulier dans les centres urbains comme Tallinn. Le passage de la vodka à la bière dans les États baltes reflète des changements socio-économiques plus profonds façonnés par les cadres réglementaires, l’évolution culturelle et la restructuration économique, qui se traduisent par des marchés de la bière dynamiques et diversifiés dans toute la région.

Der einst florierende Biersektor der baltischen Staaten wurde zu Sowjetzeiten dezimiert und minderwertiges Massenbier trat an seine Stelle. Vor diesem Hintergrund untersucht der Artikel die Mikro- und Craftbeer-Szene in den baltischen Staaten und deren historische Entwicklung, regulatorische Veränderungen und wirtschaftliche Faktoren sowie die Hauptunterschiede zwischen den drei Ländern. Diese Länder sind Estland, Lettland und Litauen, wo Craftbeer gegenüber traditionellen Spirituosen wie Wodka und an Bedeutung gewonnen hat. Diese Verschiebung spiegelt den kulturellen und wirtschaftlichen Wandel in der Region wider. In Litauen ist die Wiederbelebung alter Hausbrautechniken von zentraler Bedeutung für die Craftbeer-Bewegung. In Lettland mit seiner stark deutsch geprägten Brauereigeschichte hat sich der Craftbeer-Sektor als wettbewerbsfähige Kraft entwickelt - trotz der Dominanz der Großbrauereien. Die lettischen Mikrobrauereien haben jedoch Probleme mit etablierten Unternehmen. Estland hat, trotz eines späten Starts, schnell eine florierende Craftbeer-Industrie entwickelt. Dazu haben digitale Infrastrukturen und Unternehmergeist, vor allem in urbanen Zentren wie Tallinn, beigetragen. Der Wechsel von Wodka zu Bier in den baltischen Staaten zeigt einen tiefgreifenden sozioökonomischen Wandel, der sich durch

The EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has recently broadened the scope of public services that collaborating groups of farmers (farmer collectives) can provide. In addition to biodiversity measures via agri-environment schemes (AES), they can apply for the implementation of water quality and climate mitigation measures. But what does this require from farmer collectives and from the public administrations that contract them? We address these questions based on previous and additional research on the farmer collectives in the Netherlands. To this purpose, we looked at the strategies of farmer collectives. The focus was on: what is the scope of services to be deployed to create public value; how is legitimacy and support ensured; and what does this imply for the organisation of the farmer collective, the qualifications of people involved in the farmer collective and managing external networks? We identify three types of farmer collectives with distinct needs, critical points of attention, and different roles for public administrations: 1) farmer collectives that only implement AES; 2) farmer collectives that also implement public and private funded projects; 3) farmer collectives that act as risk-taking, entrepreneurial organisations. In other Member States, additional types of farmer collectives may emerge. Recognising the heterogenity of farmer collectives, by Member State and by farmer collective, is key to effective and legitimate biodiversity, water quality and climate action.

We use Teagasc National Farm Survey (NFS) data to establish a better understanding about the age profile of people engaged in farming in Ireland and the related issue of farm succession. Insights are drawn from related research on the potential for farm partnerships to assist in improving generational renewal. The findings from the Teagasc NFS indicate a more complex relationship between economic performance and farm succession than is typically portrayed in the economic literature. The results indicate that in the non-dairy cattle system, the proportion of farm operators with an identified successor is lower for viable farms relative to non-viable farms and lower relative to viable farms in other farming systems. Cluster analysis of a sample of dairy farms indicates that the presence of young people in the household is just as important as farm economic viability in determining whether or not a farm successor is identified. The Teagasc NFS analysis indicates that many farms have young people contributing in terms of labour but delayed succession means fewer young farmers taking the role of farm manager. There is scope to increase the use of Farm Partnerships as pathways for younger farmers to progress from contributing labour on the farm to taking on a management role in the farm.