Towards a New Agricultural and Food Policy for Ireland
Recommendations for Government
A Position Paper from the Environmental Pillar, the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition and the Sustainable Water Network
April 2021
“Agriculture is by far the most significant pressure on Ireland’s nature, water and air, and greenhouse gas emissions. There has been a long-standing failure to align the sector with Ireland’s obligations under environmental law. Current policies that prioritise a productivist model of agriculture (i.e. focused
on specialisation and intensification) lock farmers into an unsustainable commoditydriven food production system which leaves them economically vulnerable. These policies have also undermined Ireland’s international reputation on food security.
In this paper, we – the Environmental Pillar, the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition, and the Sustainable Water Network – set out our policy recommendations for the Government that would deliver much
needed change in Irish agriculture policy. This paper provides a foundation for a deeper discussion on what a new model of agriculture for Ireland could look like – a model that works within the ecological parameters essential to a healthy society, economy and planet.”
Read the full Policy Document here: Towards a New Agriculture and Food Policy for Ireland Policy Doc_FINAL
