Abstract

Attention in Brussels is focused once again on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). However, CAP reforms may come and go without any meaningful progress in addressing the challenge of building sustainable food systems in Europe. As an agricultural policy, the problem is what the CAP does not do, and has no mandate to do. Europe urgently needs an integrated food policy (or a "Common Food Policy"). There are five key reasons why this shift is required, and why the time is now ripe for it to occur: 1. Aligning policies on the same objectives (bridging policy areas); 2. Harnessing local experimentalism (bridging policy levels); 3. Moving beyond productivism and adapting to new challenges; 4. Moving beyond the tyranny of the short-term and sparking a transition; 5. Reviving food democracy and rebuilding legitimacy.