Beeld Sicco Mansholt
In Blauwestad stands a life-size statue of Sicco Mansholt (1908–1995), the ‘godfather of European agricultural policy’.
Have a look now
Sicco Mansholt stands somewhat forlornly in a park in Blauwestad. Mansholt, the son of a Groningen farmer, was one of the architects of the new agricultural policy after the Second World War. First as Minister for Agriculture in The Hague, and later as European Commissioner in Brussels. He pursued a policy aimed at ensuring that there would never again be hunger in Europe, whilst at the same time providing economic security for farmers and citizens alike. For example, by setting a fixed grain price for farmers. Alongside the positive effects, this also led to a massive increase in farm size, land consolidation and, consequently, a drastic transformation of the countryside. Farmers’ protests against European policy took place even then, but at that time they were in favour of small-scale farming and against excessive market forces; On 23 March 1971, a mass demonstration took place in Brussels, involving 100,000 farmers protesting against the Common Agricultural Policy of Mansholt and others.
Man…
Sicco Mansholt stands somewhat forlornly in a park in Blauwestad. Mansholt, the son of a Groningen farmer, was one of the architects of the new agricultural policy after the Second World War. First as Minister for Agriculture in The Hague, and later as European Commissioner in Brussels. He pursued a policy aimed at ensuring that there would never again be hunger in Europe, whilst at the same time providing economic security for farmers and citizens alike. For example, by setting a fixed grain price for farmers. Alongside the positive effects, this also led to a massive increase in farm size, land consolidation and, consequently, a drastic transformation of the countryside. Farmers’ protests against European policy took place even then, but at that time they were in favour of small-scale farming and against excessive market forces; On 23 March 1971, a mass demonstration took place in Brussels, involving 100,000 farmers protesting against the Common Agricultural Policy of Mansholt and others.
Mansholt later looked back on his own policies with mixed feelings; insights from the environmental movement and the farming community led him to realise that economies of scale and land consolidation brought not only gains but also significant losses for the farmland.