Food sovereignty is possible, but different models must coexist, according to the Food Cluster

The “Faktoria” program went this Wednesday to the Ordizia Fair and asked about food sovereignty and the crisis that the food sector is experiencing to the managing director of the Euskadi Food Cluster, Jon Ander Egañaand the representative of EHNE Bizkaia, Amets Ladislao.

Jon Ander Egaña has pointed out that food sovereignty is possible, but that different models must coexist. In any case, he foresees difficulties because “it is not easy to change the paradigm from one day to the next” due to the dependencies that exist.

Asked about what is needed to reduce food dependency, he advocates taking measures in the short, medium and long term. He has recognized that the war in Ukraine has accentuated this dependency and that the transport strike has further aggravated the problem.

Although he believes that customers may be willing to pay more for a product at times, he has highlighted the need to increase marketing channels.

In the event that the transporters’ strike continues over time, it has predicted supply problems in general. Likewise, it has demanded immediate measures from the Spanish Government so that the food chain does not come to a standstill.

For its part, Amets Ladislao from EHNE Bizkaiahas underlined that in order to achieve food sovereignty, public policies are needed and the model of agriculture and livestock farming needs to be turned around.

Likewise, he misses a long-term strategic vision: “They are only patching up structural problems.”

In the opinion of the EHNE representative, citizens are willing to pay more, but emphasis must be placed on increasing marketing channels.