FreshPlaza (FP): A few months ago, the EU Commissioner for Agriculture stressed the necessity to "supply producers with tools to tackle the markets with suitable profits." Has something changed?
Gualtiero Roveda (GR): There's nothing new so far, but the Commission is probably working on it. A few days ago, the Union announced an Act to counter the problem and include the defence of the weaker links of the food and agricultural industry in Directive 2005/29/EC, which safeguards consumers against unfair practices.
FP: The role of the agricultural world should be safeguarded better...
GR: Of course. People must recognise that producers provide unpaid environmental services. Their activities capture carbon dioxide, maintain biodiversity, keep the soil fertile, balance water levels and enhance the scenery.
FP: Last week, the letter written by the son of a producer was read thousands of times and commented on by people all over Italy...
GR: It's the same old story. Money is not distributed equally in societies with no control. Writer Edoardo Lombardi Vallauri said it well when he explained how the School system receives insufficient funding using courgettes as an example. Imagine if courgettes were the main ingredients of an expensive dish in a restaurant. Courgettes grow necessarily from the ground, and sacrifice and hard work are needed to cultivate them. However, producers are paid very little for them. The price is slightly higher in supermarkets, which sell them to the chefs that make the very expensive dish. The first two make very little money and why is that? The answer is simple: because producers represent the furthest step from the step that actually makes the money, but this is not normal as, usually, money is distributed where it is made.
FP: What leads to high final profits?
GR: The presence of money leads to a high retribution. It is not so easy to direct money where the purpose would justify it. But all this is based on an error of perspective: there is no reason why traders should make a lot while producers make very little. The same happens with Education: it does not generate wealth directly, it represents the furthest step from where money is actually made, so no funds are directed towards it. But schooling is the premise for future richness. This system might appear good if you're naive, but a country cannot afford to be naive. Political, economic and social action must be taken to tackle this problem - the most advanced countries have understood this a while ago.