Trade Policy – Food (Policy) For Thought

June 21, 2015

Costa Rica's Avocado Crisis

My usual fruit vendor smiles at me regretfully. “You want avocados? Well, we have some. The problem – they are veery expensive.” Instinctively, this comes as no surprise to my German brain – in Europe good avocados are a luxury good with few equals. But then I check this thought process: we are in Central … Continue reading Costa Rica's Avocado Crisis

March 5, 2015

On Sweden's Diet Debates and Governmental Food Recommendations

by Helena Robling As we speak, the Swedish national food agency is in the process of developing a set of environmentally sustainable dietary guidelines. The purpose is to give the population information on what to eat and maybe more importantly, what not to eat, to keep healthy and at the same time minimize the individual … Continue reading On Sweden's Diet Debates and Governmental Food Recommendations

February 7, 2015

Weekend Trifecta of Studies, from Seed Laws to TTIP to Climate Change

Heya! Anybody else excited it’s the weekend? What are your plans? I think I might go to an organic farmer’s market and possibly do a day trip outside of town – and just relax with a book and a giant heap of pineapple (I just bought 3 for $2, a crazy deal!) If you feel … Continue reading Weekend Trifecta of Studies, from Seed Laws to TTIP to Climate Change

January 1, 2015

New Horizons: The 2015 Food Policy Agenda

Happy New Year! I hope you had a great party and/or a relaxing night to celebrate the new year, whichever you prefer. Although it does seem like an arbitrary cut in time, the New Year always gives a great opportunity to reflect on the past and focus on the future. Without further ado, here is … Continue reading New Horizons: The 2015 Food Policy Agenda

November 15, 2014

Guess What – The Private Sector Can Help Itself!

Hey hey hey! Long time no news, eh? Sorry for that. The last week was pretty intense, but now it’s Friday and I was at a lunch conference again, which means I have interesting thoughts to report 🙂 The talk was titled “Best practices in engaging with the agricultural private sector in ACP [African, Caribbean, and … Continue reading Guess What – The Private Sector Can Help Itself!

May 22, 2014

Review: Kate Raworth's 'Doughnut Economics'

Man, sometimes you just have to catch yourself in moments of pure luck. Like today, after a morning spent in glorious summer weather hammering out the last formatting issues of my thesis, when I was able to attend a lunch seminar (who said there was no free lunch in economics?) with the inspiring Kate Raworth … Continue reading Review: Kate Raworth's 'Doughnut Economics'

February 20, 2014

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership: What Does It Mean for Ag?

In my first blog post of the year, I mentioned the ongoing negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the European Union and the United States as one of the issues to watch out for, and thought the time was right to dig a little deeper into the question – what would … Continue reading The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership: What Does It Mean for Ag?

January 3, 2014

2014 – What's on the Food Policy Agenda?

2014 is shaping up to be an exciting year in the food policy world – wherever you look, new policies are about to be decided upon and/or implemented. So let’s have a look across the globe and see what’s on the agenda, shall we? USA: After Congress spectacularly failed to finalize the Farm Bill during … Continue reading 2014 – What's on the Food Policy Agenda?

May 28, 2013

A Brief History of European Agricultural Policy

Yesterday, I went to a talk by a rep of Germanwatch, a German NGO, on European Agricultural Policy and its relationship to climate change. As part of the presentation, the presenter gave a great overview of how European agricultural policy evolved and I thought I’d reproduce it here for all the non-Europeans (and Europeans!) who … Continue reading A Brief History of European Agricultural Policy