Episode 2: The Land Grab Chronicles

Episode 2 of Fields of Power moves from the aisles of a Hungarian supermarket into the hidden machinery of a political-economic system where land, food, and power are tightly intertwined. Péter and Ian begin by tracing the products of powerful political-economic elites – Hungary’s oligarchs – whose companies dominate everything from dairy to wine. But the question they pursue is bigger: how did land become the key to their power, and why does it matter for Hungary’s future?

Episode 2: The Land Grab Chronicles

 

Episode 2 shows how oligarchs and their allies used state-engineered land auctions to accumulate vast tracts of farmland, a process made highly profitable by EU subsidies that reward ownership rather than cultivation. Drawing on the investigations of former state secretary József Ángyán, it reveals how fields intended for family farmers were channelled instead to regime loyalists. Through Ángyán’s story – his widespread recognition in the countryside, his disillusionment inside the government, and the retaliation he faced after exposing corrupt government practices– the episode traces the mechanics of a system designed to concentrate land in political hands.

But it also turns to the people living with the consequences. Éva, the organic farmer from Kishantos, recalls how the promise of family farm-oriented reform collapsed into what she describes as organised robbery. Noémi Gonda, a university researcher helps unpack why land is not just another asset but a form of power that shapes food security and democratic life. And Logan, an organic farmer and agroecology advocate, explains how subsidy-driven land ownership encourages monoculture and mega-farms while pushing out those who actually care about the soil.

What emerges is more than a story about property: it’s about how land grabbing undermines democracy, weakens food sovereignty, blocks climate-resilient farming, and shapes the future of Hungary and Hungarians.