The next step is for our demands to be made real. We need to define what a small artisanal farmer is and to give these farmers more flexible legal tools so they are able to survive. We hope that the voices of the artisanal fishers and local farmers and their demands do not fall on deaf ears. The Basque Government has been challenged to create an Artisanal Decree. The Basque Administration has recognised the cultural, social and sustainable values of artisanal agriculture and the necessity of facing the situation of these artisanal farmers. The platforms Euro-Toques and Slow Food, will continue their work promoting this area.

During these months continual signs of support have been given by anonymous people, committed consumers or farmers worried by an uncertain future, and also by internationally well known chefs, like Mr. René Redzepi, Mr. David Chang, Mr. Joan Roca, Mr. Ferran Adrià, Mr. Juan Mari Arzak or Mr. Pedro Subijana among others. They believe that local sustainable and artisanal products have an added value.

Which is the main preoccupation for these local farmers? There is an unanimous answer. The Legal barrier, the lack of demand, the costs of implementing new procedures, the lack of knowledge of sales options, and finally the complexity of the associated technology and the small size of the farmers turnover.

The farmers demand more flexible legislation concerning sanitary matters and new sanitary authorisations that make the artisanal agriculture viable.  Finally, Public awareness-raising campaigns and Institutional support for local products. The current legislation is focussed on  farmers with huge turnovers and the industry in general.

What solutions are there? Perhaps, a common legislation for large industry, medium or small artisanal farmers but with specific recommendations for the small sized artisanal group and a more flexible interpretation of the legislation. Perhaps a special quality logo indicating that artisanal products comply with the minimum sanitary required conditions. Perhaps specific controls for local products.

The reality is that consumers are giving more and more importance to healthy and natural products. Products that have their origin clearly marked and are respectful to the environment.

It is time to move on.

 Food sovereignty is defined as the right that people have to organise and provide for themselves in a sustainable and ecological way, prioritizing local economies. It locates producers, distributors and consumers at the heart of food systems and food politics, above the demands of markets and the industry in general.

In Gipuzkoa, the government aims to favour agricultural policies that give flexibility to current legislation, which currently favors large producers, and the industry and generally causes difficulties to small farmers. The director of Agriculture and Rural development, Mr. Koldo Lizarralde, advocates a cooperation between the Basque Government and the three Provincial Councils to achieve a new legal framework for the small farmer with a global approach that involves production, elaboration and sales. That is why it also requires a definition of what constitutes a small producer, and who it is applicable to. For example, specialists from the Provincial Councils went to Iparralde to see “in situ”, what French legislators do about it, as France has long permitted legal exemption for artisanal producers. Spain did not contemplate exemptions and that is why it has damaged artisanal production in Euskadi, causing a huge loss of potential among small producers. It is not easy working in a diversified market with no specific laws that cover your economic output level.

Food sovereignty focuses on local and national markets, empowers farmers and family agriculture, small scale fishing, traditional pasturing and it locates food production, distribution and consumption at the base of sustainable environment, and social and economic society. It also promotes transparent trade that guarantees decent incomes and the rights of consumers to control their own feeding and nutrition. An important statistic is that in the Basque Country, 7% of the products consumed are local, and the rest come from outside the Basque Country.

Mr. Lizarralde considers that it is vital to promote a more flexible legislation for small farmers, and work on the current ways and means of selling. The Consumer Association concept, where the client is committed to a weekly or a monthly basket of fresh produce, is a formula that is expanding among the population. However these traditional channels to market are not sufficient for the sales necessary to guarantee artisanal production. New channels of commercialisation are needed to be found. It is as important to know which product should be produced as it is to know how to sell it, who to sell it to, and how to reach out to those consumers.

These two women believe that competent authorities should take into account that small producers do not seek to become an industry and do not have the same risks. Small artisanal producers don’t need the same investments, especially in infrastructures as they do not produce in big quantities.  The solution is, for these two women, that there should be a basic general legislation for everyone, big or small producer, but there should also be a specific legislation for small artisanal products as these particular products have their own characteristics.

“We are allergic to life, afraid of microbes and applaud anything chemical” says the small producer from Oiartzun, at the foot of Peñas de Aia a mountain in Guipuzcoa.
There are other additional voices, for example from a woman that produces morcillas (black puddings) from Las Encartaciones, region from Bizkaia. It is possible to buy her product in farmers markets all over the Basque Country. This morcilla does not have health registration, however, it is well known and appreciated by gastronomes and awarded by the jury of gastronomic contests. She does not use machinery and her morcilla is kneaded  with her own hands using artisanal funnels. She produces small amounts and she does not aspire to grow in production. As a small artisanal producer she claims that her investments should be small as they can not be the same league as those needed by an industrial scale meat producer. She believes that the institutions should recognise the value of artisanal products, handmade and elaborated and with no additives and preservatives, and fight to stop them disappearing.

Iñaki places his products on a table at the market not knowing that with this gesture he is representing a breath of fresh air, compared to other productive models, like the industrial one.

The Nobel prize for Agroecology, Mr. Henk Hobbeling, has it clear: “small farmers will refresh the planet”. In an interview with “La vanguardia”, the Dutch Agronomist confirms that 30% of the fertile land of the world which belongs to small farmers, produce 65% of the food. The founder of Grain, a NGO dedicated to  food sovereignty and agroecology believes that we need government help for small farmers so they don’t have to leave the countryside.

With reference again to the previous farmer from Orio, Iñaki, who used to work in a farmer’s union before dedicating his life to the farm life, he is aware that living from an orchard is difficult but at the same time advantageous. Especially for reconciling family life and be in contact with nature.

Iñaki knows that depending on the type of product, direct selling is more difficult. For example “eggs”.  He knows that it is necessary comply with hygiene rules and food safety, but he believes that some of these rules are more favorable for industrial producers. “We cannot apply the same rules for the production of 20.000 eggs as for 200 eggs”. But, the Sanitary Authorities care about the traceability of the product and must detect any possible irregularity along the food chain.

Biolur is the association for the support of the ecological agriculture in Gipuzkoa. It has created consumption groups in order to create a direct relationship between farmers and consumers.

Direct selling of ecological products it is not only a healthier and more sustainable  philosophy of life, but also an alternative way of eating where the consumer values the quality of the product, and its origin, more than its price; and they don’t always have to be the most expensive!

The MEPs voted that 30% of the payments be made to farmers that applied three important measures: rotation of crops, the maintenance of an ecological area of interest and permanent pasture.
They also voted some exceptions to give more flexibility to the farmers. The small holdings with less than 10 hectares should remain exempt from these rules, farms between 10 and 30 hectares may rotate two crops and farms of over 30 hectares should comply with all three rules. Another exception are farms that already apply national environmental standards and therefore are already respecting the environment. These farms are also to be exempt from these ecological or “greening” rules.

The instigator of these measures, the Portuguese socialist Mr Capoulas Santos, is satisfied that from now on, all the EU agriculture sector will comply with the same ecological legislation, no matter which country the farms are based in. Weather or not that country could afford investments in earlier rural development programmes.

These proposals need to be ratified by the Agricultural Commission and obtain the approval of the Parliament as a whole, before the MEPs initiate negotiations with the member states about the final shape of the future agricultural policy of the UE. The final voting is tentatively planned for the next session in March in Strasburg, and is pending the final numbers for the global EU budgets for 2014-2020.

These are real steps towards a more sustainable agriculture in the EU!

Alternatives for their milk are emerging from the producer cooperatives. For example, a recently created producers cooperative, that has become quite important, sells milk through contracts. Something that it did not happen before. This initiative of selling milk through purchase and sales contracts has been driven by the the  E.C. There are also other groups of producers who use collective bargaining in order to negotiate the price as a group and not individually. Bargaining individually weakness the farmer’s position with regard to industrial purchasers. There is now a better coordination between sheep farmers who are joining in their efforts to fight against the abusive prices of the milk that are given by big companies. The “Latxa Esnea” cooperative has been created by the local producers. This cooperative has obtained some collective contracts, although the industry keeps wanting to purchase the milk individually so they can negotiate the prices downwards. In Navarra there are groups of people who are not only thinking about the production but also about integrating into the community as they believe in the careful elaboration of Idiazabal cheese by smallholders. The situation with the farmers has reached rock-bottom, and as it can only get better from here this encourages a more hopeful future scenario.
Compared to other Autonomous Regions, in the Basque Country small producers are increasingly turning to producing cheese, as the sale of milk, on its own, is not profitable. This occurs especially in Basque farms, when younger generations are taking over farms. Each year there are two or three new cheese farms, lead by young shepherds that want to continue living in the country. Despite the small total production of Idiazabal cheese, 1200 tons per year, production is far from being concentrated into a few producers, it is diversified among plenty of cheese farms. This is considered as positive as it is profitable business for all those that live in the territory.

The “Appellation of Origin” of the Idiazabal cheese supports this idea. Others, however, forget about the importance of the breed and favour productivity. There are more than 100 cheese farmers, members of the Idiazabal A.O. that have their own flock of sheep and they produce cheese with latxa milk. There are other cheese makers that buy the milk of the latxa sheep to make the cheese from, and finally there are some others, about two or three big companies, that buy the milk to produce the cheese in an industrial, rather than artisanal, way. If these big companies meet the requirements for the production of the cheese, their cheese is also certified as from Idiazabal. But there is unfair competition, generated by the industry and sometimes with the support of the small producers, who feel pressured by the market situation and the law of supply and demand. The companies involved push to obtain lower prices, generating more demand for this type of cheese, from limited production.

In 2007, a fraud was revealed when the A.O. detected that there was a cheese farm that used to make the cheese with milk from outside the Basque Country and from other sheep breeds. By using non latxa milk they could double the production of the Idiazabal cheese and meet the high levels demand. However, this is not the norm, the strict controls and inspections of the Idiazabal A.O. try to keep these kinds of fraudulent actions at bay.

Currently confusion reigns on the shelves of large supermarket chains. The industrial farms that elaborate the idiazabal cheese on a larger scale have created a parallel brand: “Etxegarai”. This is a copy of Idiazabal cheese, but made with cheaper sheep’s milk from other breeds. It is cheaper, but its marketing and branding are identical to Idiazabal cheese. The A.O., is very careful and supervise that this type of cheese it is not sold as an Idiazabal cheese. To produce Idiazabal cheese only milk from the latxa and carranzana sheeps can be used, however big cheese companies make other cheeses, similar to the Idiazabal, and they are within their right to do so. These cheeses are made the same way as the Idiazabal cheese and it is very difficult to appreciate the difference between them or to determine the type of sheep breed has produced the milk. These cheeses are quality cheeses but without the added value that comes with supporting the families that work to maintain the latxa race. The A.O. doesn’t just support the latxa breed but also the land management and exploitation of local territory. This is an age old battle, but currently, all eyes are looking at the supermarkets and how to avoid confusion in the consumer on the shelves.

The owners of this farm, a young couple from Bilbao, decided one day, to change their way of life and move to the countryside to become small artisanal producers. They wanted to give priority to the quality of the product and decided to control the elaboration and production of this product from start to finish. They also wanted to sell it directly to restaurants and shops, without any intermediaries. They do it this way because they cannot and will not compete in price with the big distribution chains. They have their own slaughterhouse and they comply with the legislation for the slaughtering of poultry and the elaboration of the product. Their goal is to comply fully with the legislation. They went to France to learn the trade and they met people willing to show them their farms and workshops… and their “savoire faire”. This added value makes a difference.

However they have found obstacles, daily. They receive unfair competition from competitors who don’t comply fully with current legislation. This is a real disadvantage. For example the European standards concerning animal welfare, forbid the opening of new duck foie gras farms in that use small individual cages for the ducks from 2006 onwards. It also says that they should disappear completely by 2010. However the unfairly competing producers think there is a “hidden” moratorium on this legislation until 2015. This is not convenient for the small artisanal producers as their costs of production are higher, as the time it takes to feed every duck is 10 times longer than by feeding ducks breed in small individual cages. The upside is that when this legislation is correctly enforced, duck product prices will increase and artisanal products will be more competitive. A similar situation occurred recently with the eggs.

The owners of the La Llueza claim that current Ministry of Health legislation for the elaboration and commercialisation of artisanal products is complex, very demanding and can be improved. But when we deal with food and people’s health it is never easy to create appropriate legislation. Farming without the appropriate installations and buildings, and without complying with the legal and economical aspects of the law, allow some producers to have better prices and earn more money but if at the same time it is an illegal activity, it is of no use to anybody.

The owners of the La Llueza say that often in the supposedly “artisanal” markets many producers resell industrial low-cost products without any sanitary or economic control. That is why those producers that work with higher quality and higher prices look like thieves. Besides, they can not reduce sales prices because they are selling direct, as contrary to popular belief direct sales do not mean less costs. Small producer’s have lower profit margins and they are more vulnerable to incur losses than large industrial producers. This couple from La Llueza thinks that every producer should comply with the legislation, regardless how absurd and unfair the laws might be, as laws should be the same for everyone. But, they also want to push for changes in legislation to adapt it to fit the current situation of the small producer, better

The bodies responsible for food safety are more rigorous with some products than others, depending on the risk related to the product. For example, all products of animal origin (meat, milk and eggs among others), must be approved by a sanitary inspector, meanwhile other products such as squid fished with a rod and line  can be sold without any sanitary authorisation, as they are considered as low risk.

For the small artisanal farmer, it is difficult to comply with the regulation, as they lack the necessary infrastructure to measure and show compliance. The law says that, in order to be able to sell your product to the market, it is necessary to comply with the law, whether or not you are a medium sized or a small farmer. But there are certain exceptions with some vegetables and fish. Zero risk does not exist in the food industry and therefore the administration demands to the small artisanal farmers self-control regarding their products. Perhaps a solution might be that the small producer, unable to comply with the legal aspects of the regulation, could demonstrate that their products perfectly healthy and in good sanitary condition. Some of the small producers don’t join cooperatives, whose products are regulated, because they are looking to differentiate themselves, from the rest of the market. But the added value that this approach gives to the product creates its own problems. So some farmers, in order to comply with the legal sanitary regulations, are forced to change their traditional way of making things for more modern methods that comply better with the regulations. There are countries, such as France, where there are more advanced and developed laws, even for products like the foie gras pate, which is not a raw ingredient but has had some amount of transformation: it is a product protected with more flexible regulations.

According to the small farmers and breeders association of Spain (UPA), who support a more tangible and comprehensive concept, that allows for a variations in the size of its members according to local conditions. The UPA favors legislation that protects small farmers as it thinks that this is the most sustainable model, not only for the small farmers sake but also for the consumers, restaurateurs and the rural world, in general. If we aspire to a sustainable future and to having a healthy diet it is very important that government administration commits to small model production. For this Association, family run businesses are completely viable and cost-effective, both socially and economically

There is a constant battle between small farmers and big distribution chains. Small farmers  complain about the pressures placed on them by the big distribution chains.  Distribution in Spain is controlled by 5 big groups that concentrate the demand into products, however supply is very fragmented into small producers. The result of the pressure that can be weilded by the large distribution groups is that the fight for profitability, especially in times of crisis, transfers the war on prices in the supermarkets directly to local producers.

In reality, there should be a market for the big distribution chains but also a niche for small markets, farms, fishers and agricultures. And why not? Small producers ask for new legislation to protect them and help modifying the habits of comnsumers through innovation and creativity in order to create new possibilities for achieving more sustainable artisanal commerce. The battle is far from over.