Swiss voters want to make sure they do not run out of food ever again.
They are going to the polls on Sunday to decide on a constitutional amendment to guarantee food supply.
Launched by the Swiss farmers’ association, the initiative has since been replaced with a government proposal that includes safeguarding agricultural land, and enshrining resource-efficient food production and sustainable trade relations in law.
What looks like a done deal at the ballot — public support stands at 69 percent — will most likely turn into a heated debate in the Swiss Federal Assembly, which will pit farmers against environmentalists.
The main aim is to secure the country’s ability to feed its 8.4 million inhabitants.
In terms of calories from animal products, Switzerland has already reached self-sufficiency, albeit only at first glance: Factoring out imported fodder, the country can only provide three-quarters of the calories derived from animal products.
As for plant-based foodstuffs, the number constantly hovers at less than 50 percent.
While the total amount of government subsidies allocated to agriculture and food production has been relatively stable over the past few years, how that support is paid out to farmers has changed.
Policies to boost production and sales of agricultural products were the main pillar of government spending in the early 1990s, whereas today almost all money is paid directly to farmers.
More than one-third of Switzerland is farmland, but most European nations have more space available. For example, neighboring Germany and France, where more than half of the total area is agricultural land.
Due to the prevalence of mountains and lakes in Switzerland, one-quarter of the country is unsuitable for settlements and farming.
The number of people working in agriculture is steadily declining, and only 3 percent of the working population is involved in farming. That has not stopped the industry’s political ambition: 10 percent of the 200 members of the legislature’s lower house are farmers or closely affiliated with the sector.
That includes people like Jacques Bourgeois, the head of the Swiss farmers’ association, who is spearheading the constitutional amendment.
It is not the first time that the Swiss have worried about self-sufficiency. During World War II, neutral Switzerland acquired three oceangoing ships to secure food supplies for the landlocked country.
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