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Entering into farming is becoming in- creasingly difficult; young farmers in Europe are facing many challenges. These include exaggerated prices for farms and farmland, rising competition in the global marketplace and increas- ing ecological and safety obligations resulting in additional restructuring costs. In addition, existing subsidy pro- grams for young farmers at the national and EU level remain largely ineffective.how do you becomea farmer?Several challenges stem from out- side the farming world. With young urban dwellers becoming increas- ingly removed from agriculture, they are losing touch with the seasonality of agricultural production, its under- lying processes and the producers themselves. Romanticized advertising images and increasing ecological de- mands are further at odds with the ac- tual conditions of agricultural produc- tion and falling prices at the consumer end. The image of farming in the me- dia and the public eye also remains far from positive, with the gap between the media portrayal and the reality of farming now bigger than ever.EU agricultural policies are highly com- plex and often not completely trans- parent. Many European citizens do not engage with them. This is despite the fact that a significant portion of EU tax money is allocated to agricultural subsi- dies: almost 40% of the total EU budget, approximately €50 billion a year. The EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) influ- ences European landscapes, the envi- ronment and living conditions of farm- ers, but also the food we have on our plates. The CAP is therefore not only relevant for farmers and policy makers, but for every European citizen.But how will we guarantee the future of our food when fewer and fewer young Europeans are taking up the farming profession? How can we ensure di- verse and regional food production that respects resources such as soil and water – also known as sustainable farming – when the young generation is losing interest in and knowledge about farming?59