Retailers should look to home for sustainable supply chains
"The NFU's challenge is to keep retailers honest about food labelling and the carbon footprint created through importing food," said NFU President Peter Kendall in his address to a meeting of Welsh Council, NFU Cymru's ruling body.
Commenting on the news that two major UK retailers have announced their intention to reduce their carbon footprint, Mr Kendall said, "The tide at last seems to be slowly turning, as retailers are finally waking up to the fact that consumers are concerned about climate change and its effect on the environment.
"It was heartening to hear Marks and Spencer's recent announced that it aims to be carbon neutral within five years - surely one of the major steps in achieving this is to source locally produced food wherever possible. Sainsbury's also recently announced that they are keen to engage in long term contracts with farmers, which will hopefully bring increased stability to the market."
Mr Kendall questioned the sustainability of some supermarkets' current food sourcing policy, especially given the likely effects of climate change in the future. "Retailers who are building supply chains on foreign produce which can just as easily be sourced locally are playing a dangerous game.
"All produce presented to consumers, either retail or catering, should be clearly labelled to show the country of origin, enabling consumers to make informed choices about what they choose to buy or eat. This is the very least that consumers deserve."
"Some environmental experts have alleged that in a decade's time southern Europe will be too hot for tourism, let alone vegetable production, which begs the question – what will happen to the retailers' food supply then?" added Mr Kendall.
Touching on global markets and the ethics of sourcing food from areas such as South America, Mr Kendall said, "I accept that the world is becoming smaller and that we are competing in an increasingly global market, but surely we must find a way of stopping those that undermine markets through questionable and environmentally damaging means of farming. UK farmers must be allowed to compete on a level playing field, and currently this is not the case."
"Changes need to be made to right across the UK food supply chain, and we still have much ground to cover, but the recent announcements by Tesco, Marks and Spencer and Sainsbury's are a positive step in the right direction."
Closing his address, Mr Kendall turned to the issue of increased bureaucracy and red tape that is affecting farmers across the country, "There is a need for the sensible application of rules and regulations. Rather than just imposing draconian fines and penalising farmers, often for very minor infringements, there should be an opportunity for the farmer to put the matter right within a specified timescale. There is a need to apply common sense, or the level of fines and penalties will put farmers out of business," concluded Mr Kendall.
