Exeter bishop criticizes practices of supermarkets

A Church of England bishop has warned that the big supermarket chains in Britain are putting farming livelihoods at risk by forcing down prices through their buying power.

"The business practices of the major food retailers have placed considerable stress on the farming community through the use of methods which we believe to be unfair and of which consumers seem to be unaware," said Exeter Bishop Michael Langrish at the November 5 launch of a report, "Fairtrade begins at Home: Supermarkets and the effect on British farming livelihoods," written by Neville White and Amanda Young of the Church of England's Ethical Investment Advisory Group.

The report was commissioned in 2003 following concern expressed by dairy farmers at the Church of England's annual synod meeting. They complained that supermarkets rather than market forces were determining the price of milk.

"Making farmers pay for supermarkets' own promotions is just one of a number of invisible and pernicious practices squeezing farm-gate prices," the report states.