ABSTRACT
Why are the UK and Spain two good country cases to compare? This chapter presents the key historical and current differences and similarities in their farming and policy contexts and AC sectors that reveal interesting trends in the European AC sector and approach to food system sustainability.
This chapter takes the reader from the Rochdale times in the UK, to Edward Owen Greening’s first Agricultural and Horticultural Association, to the period of strong marketing boards’ presence and, later, the entry into the European Common Market that created a lot of disruption in the AC sector. The ambition to have power over farming and the tensions between the National Farmers’ Union and the AC sector are discussed.
For Spain, the implications of joining the European Union were huge, ending decades of autarchy imposed by Franco’s regime and the Catholic Church, both having overall control of the AC sector. The country opened its borders and swiftly became a key exporter to the European market, with very significant impacts on the types of farming and AC that were to develop from there.
