madam president feeding our population has to be the highest duty of government and indeed feeding our population is the primary objective of the common agricultural policy
food security is our north star and this is an eu success story
it is worth remembering there have been food riots on every continent but ours over the last year and we are seeing governments fall on a virtually daily basis it seems across the rest of the world while we have at least been able to provide a degree of a safe haven for our citizens so far
so food security is our priority
you would not think it listening to some of the ngos and lobbyists and indeed some of the politicians who have been involved in the debate about the reform of the common agricultural policy going forward
food security must be our focus and must be our priority and i would disagree on one point with colleagues
i do not believe that free trade is the answer
i do not believe that global food security is something that we can achieve or should strive for
export bans caused by countries seeking to feed themselves are not in themselves unjustifiable and i would quote the english president of the national farmers union if you would forgive me briefly if we are talking about morality a country seeking to feed itself is nothing compared to rich countries allowing their agriculture to decline and then expecting the rest of the world to feed them
we have a responsibility to lead the world in producing more not less
