Fair trade begins at home says Euro-MP
September 9, 2002 12:00 AM
Liz Lynne, Liberal Democrat MEP for the West Midlands, has welcomed the launch of the National Farmer’s Union’s new campaign “Farming Counts”.
The campaign highlights the huge discrepancy between “farm gate value” (the price farmers get for their produce) and retail value. The average pint of milk costs 36p, just 9p of which ends up with the farmer – less than it costs to produce.
Commenting on the campaign launch, Liz said, “The NFU are highlighting an important issue here. It is only proper that farmers should be paid a fair amount for the food they produce. They have unearthed some incredible figures. Wheat is actually cheaper now than it was 25 years ago, yet the price of bread has increased – what is all that extra money being spent on? Consumers should be as concerned about this as the farmers being squeezed at the other end.
“It is clear that food production in this country is badly in need of reform. Liberal Democrats have long called for fundamental reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, but it is clear that this is only part of the answer. Retailers are wasting an increasing amount of money on marketing, packaging and distribution, while farmers are being driven out of business. If supermarket bosses are as concerned with keeping costs down as they claim, why do they only ever look at the point of production?”
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