I do some research contracting work for the Dutch ministry of Farming, Nature and Food safety. This is a complex problem. The Dutch environment (including agric

I do some research contracting work for the Dutch ministry of Farming, Nature and Food safety. This is a complex problem. The Dutch environment (including agricultural lands) is obviously suffering from a massive amount of intensive farming in the country. Farmer organisations agree on this. Supermarket wars, cheaper import and regulations have put a lot of strain on the margins of farmers, to the point where many are operating at a loss. Uncertainty makes it harder to invest in ‘greening’ farms, which is possible, but expensive. For example, imported animal food lead to nitrogen/fosfor accumulation, while depleting the natural environment in countries of origin (mostly South America). An obvious solution would be to ship manure back, but this is costly + there is little pressure to figure out how to do it economically. Result: ecosystem destruction on both sides, which is detrimental to both Dutch and South-American farmers in the long run. All this while plenty of farmers barely make a living wage.. everything about this sucks. Not sure what to do about it. Here’s some more information, in Dutch. https://www.ser.nl/nl/Publicaties/toekomstperspectieven-landbouw https://www.ser.nl/nl/Publicaties/toekomstperspectieven-land... https://agrimatie.nl/ https://agrimatie.nl/