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Welcome to a new episode of EU Watchdog Radio, in which we discuss food policy, rising food prices and hunger, and the link with financial markets.

My name is Hans van Schare, researcher at Corporate Europe Observatory.

In this episode, we'll listen to two experts.

First, UN rapporteur on the right to food, Michael Fackery, and political scientist Jorgos Vasalos.

The issue is this.

While center-right politicians and agro-industrial lobbies

are currently trying to kill the last remains of the Green Deal,

which is aimed to make agriculture less destructive in terms of biodiversity and climate change,

they use the argument that we need to stick to the agro-industrial production model

in order to boost food production and stop hunger.

But these kind of arguments are slightly cynical.

Firstly, because, for example, much agricultural land is being used to produce feed for an ever-growing

meat industry, and to produce biofuels, so not produce food for people, let alone solve

hunger.

But secondly, there is also the role of food speculation.

International trading in financial products linked to food commodities, which often have nothing to do with the real world,

being feeding people, but which has an impact on that real world, and creating rising food prices and thus hunger.

So now let's first listen to Michael Fackery,

who explains the role of international markets

where opaque trading in financial products

...