Big retailers bringing us to our knees, say farmers

DOZENS of scarecrows stood outside Britain’s parliament yesterday as UK fruit and vegetable farmers protested against “unfair” treatment by the country’s six largest supermarket chains.

The demonstrators placed 49 scarecrows opposite the British legislature in London to represent the 49% of farmers who say they are on the brink of leaving the industry.

Supermarkets are “bringing British farming to its knees”, Guy Singh-Watson,

founder of fruit and veg box delivery firm Riverford Organic and one of the protest organisers, said.

Singh-Watson, whose company initiated a petition that has received 112000 signatures, says government policies have failed to provide adequate support for farmers and were rarely enforced.

“It is really up to our politicians to accept responsibility and have some sort of policy rather than just abdicating policy to our big retailers who are contractually bound to act in the interests of their shareholders,” he added.

The farmers want the supermarkets to adhere to “fair” purchasing agreements, including buying agreed quantities and paying the agreed amount on time “without exception”.

They say unfair purchasing agreements by the chains Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons, Aldi and Lidl will drive many of them out of business in the next 12 months. The protest was held as MPs debated a petition by the farmers to overhaul the grocery supply chain code of practice.

The petition asks the government to ensure that retailers “buy what they agreed”, “pay what they agreed” and to pay on time. “The continued pressure from retailers to produce food at cheaper prices ... (is) just unsustainable for farmers,” said farmer Ben Andrews.

Emily O’Brien, from the Green Party, warned that the disappearance of farmers coulgd have serious consequences for Britain’s food supply.