In connection with a meeting for Arla’s elected farmer owners in Sweden on 4-5 May, the minister of Rural Affairs, Peter Kullgren, came to discuss the government’s work on updating the Swedish food strategy.
Before the parliamentary elections last year, Arla, together with other stakeholders in the food chain, called on all political parties to update the food strategy during the coming term. Now the new government has started this work, and during the spring, Arla already participated in a start-up meeting at the ministry. Arla also sent in a first written submission with proposals.
At the meeting on 4. May with the minister, the Arla farmers raised questions about the competitiveness of agriculture in times of inflation and price pressure, about the support for wheat cultivation that has been removed. There also were questions on the tax deduction for agricultural companies and other issues.
The first Swedish food strategy was adopted in 2017 in broad political agreement to strengthen Swedish food production. Since then, the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and rampant costs have posed major challenges for the entire food chain.
Read the press release HERE – including Arla’s written input to the Food Strategy, March 2023.