{"id":23308,"date":"2024-03-12T12:54:24","date_gmt":"2024-03-12T10:54:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.carnisostenibili.it\/?p=23308"},"modified":"2024-03-12T13:26:49","modified_gmt":"2024-03-12T11:26:49","slug":"mental-distress-for-european-farmers-the-unseen-motivation-for-their-protests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.carnisostenibili.it\/en\/mental-distress-for-european-farmers-the-unseen-motivation-for-their-protests\/","title":{"rendered":"Mental distress for European farmers, the unseen motivation for their protests"},"content":{"rendered":"

The farmers’ protests across Europe are headline news, but there’s a lesser-known reason for such action – their negatively-impacted health and mental well-being.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The <\/span>farmers’ protests across Europe<\/b> are headline news these days, with <\/span>hundreds of tractors blocking traffic<\/b> in major European cities, exhausted after years of <\/span>green policies<\/b> undermining the survival of their activities. But there’s a lesser-known reason for such action. <\/span>Research has shown<\/span><\/a> that the <\/span>pressures on farmers over the years<\/b> have also significantly <\/span>negatively impacted their health and mental well-being<\/b>. This is very worrying but totally understandable. In many cases, their daily job is an activity that has been handed down for generations, and <\/span>the risk of failure creates a lot of mental stress<\/b> in addition to the myriad difficulties the sector has been experiencing recently.<\/span><\/p>\n

Farms have belonged to these families for generations, but <\/span>European policies<\/b> often do little to <\/span>protect their incomes<\/b>, creating <\/span>financial insecurity<\/b> and forcing many farms to close. With some <\/span>seriously considering suicide<\/b>, the situation is more dramatic than anyone might think. A 2023 <\/span>survey<\/span><\/a> of <\/span>more than 250 Irish farmers<\/b> found that <\/span>20% had considered suicide in the previous two weeks<\/b>, while <\/span>almost 40% reported moderate to extremely high levels of stress<\/b>. In <\/span>northern Belgium<\/b>, almost <\/span>half of the 600 farmers surveyed<\/b> said their work was a cause of <\/span>psychological distress<\/b>. More than <\/span>a quarter of<\/b> German and Austrian framers<\/b> reported experiencing <\/span>burnout<\/b>, twice the general population’s rate for burnout.<\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/i><\/b>The sense of powerlessness, oppression and injustice can be unbearable<\/b><\/h4>\n

Farmers report feeling completely crushed by <\/span>climate policies<\/b> that <\/span>unfairly label them as the planet’s main polluters<\/b>. The <\/span>increase in costs<\/b>, the <\/span>fall in selling prices<\/b>, and the <\/span>overly rigid and unfair rules<\/b> governing their work are also <\/span>inevitably damaging their mental health<\/b>. The sense of <\/span>powerlessness, oppression and injustice<\/b> is reported to have become unbearable for many, in the face of the headlines painting the agricultural sector as the main cause of <\/span>global warming<\/b> and <\/span>loss of biodiversity<\/b>. The farming sector, just like many other sectors, knows it must reduce impacts on the environment. In this respect, <\/span>livestock farming has shown success in reducing emissions<\/b>. But these <\/span>improvements should not be undermined by making their work impossible<\/b>. After all, the farmers are the ones putting the food on our supermarket shelves.<\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/b>Farmers are at the forefront of the fight against climate change<\/b><\/h4>\n

Farmers are at the forefront of the fight against<\/span> climate change<\/b> and are also one of the most affected by it. But, the unsustainable rise in costs, <\/span>ever-stricter regulations <\/b>on emissions and restrictions on the use of various inputs, <\/span>negative media portrayals<\/b> and the <\/span>removal of subsidies for agricultural fuel<\/b> have eroded any respect for their fundamental role as <\/span>guardians of the land and suppliers of food<\/b>. After the Second World War, farmers were told to give it their all to <\/span>end hunger<\/b> and secure our food supply. Today, however, they are <\/span>constantly criticised<\/b> and <\/span>labelled as polluters<\/b> and <\/span>torturers of animals. <\/b>This kind of constant criticism would be exhausting for anyone.<\/span><\/p>\n

“They feel that they have been <\/span>scapegoated<\/b> in terms of being a headline<\/b> as if they are causing the <\/span>climate crisis<\/b> disproportionately beyond their role,” <\/span>said <\/span>Louise McHugh<\/b><\/a>, professor of psychology at <\/span>University College Dublin<\/b> and co-lead of the <\/span>mental health study on Irish farmers<\/b>. McHugh says farmers she spoke to as part of her study were <\/span>motivated to engage in innovative practices and policies<\/b> that addressed climate change but felt <\/span>these needed to include their voices<\/b> and, crucially, be workable on the ground. Researchers say solutions and <\/span>more support for farmers’ mental health <\/b>need to be found. In Ireland, they’ve already started by offering mental health modules<\/span> to agricultural sciences students<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to <\/span>Franziska Aumer<\/b>, who is studying to become a <\/span>dairy farmer <\/b>in Bavaria, Germany, it is also <\/span>important to<\/b> ensure that farmers have more information and opportunities for dialogue<\/b>. Franziska said that a Dutch friend of hers <\/span>took his own life at the age of 25 after losing his farm<\/b>, like many others in the Netherlands, <\/span>due to stricter nitrogen emission standards<\/b>. “He was full of life. He fought for his farm for years”, Aumer said. Despite the <\/span>tragic stories<\/b> she has experienced and the <\/span>challenges<\/b> facing the sector, Aumer said <\/span>giving up is not an option<\/b> for her. “<\/span>I hope that politicians and society will appreciate us<\/b> and that they’ll offer us support so that our profession has a future. And so that it doesn’t break people.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Source: <\/span>European Livestock Voice<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The farmers’ protests across Europe are headline news, but there’s a lesser-known reason for such action – their negatively-impacted health and mental well-being.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23310,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[958],"tags":[5867,5868,5869,5866,5865],"class_list":["post-23308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-evolution-culture","tag-farmers","tag-farmers-and-climate-change","tag-louise-mchugh-professor-university-college-dublin","tag-pressures-on-farmers","tag-the-farmers-protests"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t