Martin Häusling’s life was actually preordained: He inherited his parents’ „Kellerwaldhof“ farm in Bad Zwesten, Hesse, with pigs, cows and a cheese dairy. „It was unusual that I later became a professional politician“, says Häusling. He has been a member of the European Parliament since 2009 as agricultural policy spokesman for the Greens/EFA group, making him one of the most influential MEPs. That’s because the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) makes up a large part of the EU budget, at 30 percent, €55.7 billion annually.