By Pam Caraway, ACN President
To listen in on the national food conversation in the United States, some Americans might be led to believe the people of Switzerland and other continental countries are in lockstep in regard to non-GMO, limited-pesticide production on small farms.
Not so, said Fritz Glauser, a farmer who is president of the Swiss Grain Producers’ Association and vice-president of the Swiss Farmers’ Union.
Speaking in August to attendees at the World Congress of Agricultural Journalists, Glauser painted a picture distinctly different from that drawn by government officials who spoke before him.
“We see that the society is ready to support agriculture and the food sector,” said Christian Hofer, director of the Swiss Federal Office for Agriculture. As early as the late 1990s, Swiss citizens supported sustainable production practices, Hofer said. “Society was ready to pay for this product.”
The Swiss people voice support for sustainable policies but vote with their pocketbooks at the grocery store. At the grocery store, Glauser said, consumers pick the perfect product and buy the store special.
Glauser drew a distinction between citizens of society and consumers.
- Citizens want bees, he said, consumers want food
- Citizens want high standards, he said, consumers want low prices
- Citizens want food security, he said, consumers want choice
With Vision 2050 – food security through sustainable development from production to consumption – the long-term strategy is to:
- Ensure a resilient food supply
- Promote climate-, environment- and animal-friendly food production
- Strengthen sustainable value creation
- Favor sustainable and healthy consumption patterns
To support such efforts, the Swiss government provides direct payments to farmers for maintaining land, food supply, biodiversity, landscape, production systems and resource efficiency.
“That is the will of society,” Hofer said.
It is the will of Agriculture BirdLife Switzerland, but it’s not moving fast enough, said Jonas Schalle, project manager for the nation’s largest nature conservation organization. Schalle declared that Hofer’s vision is a fairy tale.
“Switzerland has excellent prerequisites for a nature-friendly agriculture – but uses them insufficiently,” Schalle said. “We cannot wait to 2050. … We want to become a role model in reality – not only in fairy tales.”
While Schalle believes the impact on nature is insignificant at this point. The monetary impact of Vision 2050 is more noticeable: higher taxes and increased prices at the grocery store.
And that’s where Glauser sees the disconnect. The strategy needs two additional supports: positive communication to citizens and consumers, to include teaching children about the benefits of agriculture – specifically local agriculture; and an effort to convince consumers to buy Swiss products. Farm-to-table efforts across the country market local products, but the educational effort needs to start the national level, Glauser said.
Instead, Glauser sees Swiss farmers losing ground to imported food. Swiss farmers provide about 52% of their country’s food needs. But imported foods are available at lower prices.
“Imports are not the problem as long as consumers are willing to pay more for Swiss products,” Glauser says.
Farmers, he said, want to contribute to a smart solution: “evolution not revolution.”
Ultimately, Glauser said: “We will provide as many products as they are willing to pay [for].”
– Caraway is editor of Farm Futures magazine.
This series on the 2024 World Congress of Agricultural Journalists was developed by members of the Agricultural Communicators Network who received grants from the Professional Improvement Foundation to help fund their travel to Interlaken, Switzerland.