The debate on the EU's future Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is taking place in the aftermath of spectacular world food price increases in 2007-2008 and amid bankruptcy warnings from EU farmers, who are worried about attempts to liberalise global trade in agricultural products.
As the world's population approaches ten billion, issues like climate change, growing scarcity of oil and availability of quality land and water are challenging the planet's capacity to produce enough food for everyone - a paradigm shift that could potentially pave the way for a new global 'food crunch'.
