Rural Diaries – country life, the countryside and rural issues

Posted by Sally on June 17th, 2008 in British Food, Farming Issues

Todays press release from the John Lewis Partnership, owners of retailers Waitrose, announcing it’s commitment to buy 100 per cent British pork by the end of 2008 makes very refreshing reading.

Waitrose have announced that by the end of 2008 it will buy 100 per cent of it’s own label pork, bacon and sausages from UK sources. Already sourcing 100 of it’s own label fresh pork and over 90 per cent of it’s bacon from UK farms Waitrose are getting behind UK farmers.

With almost 60 per cent of bacon sold in the UK coming from overseas, including rearing systems that may be illegal for a farmer in the UK, it is well beyond time that UK retailers started supporting British produce.

Morrisons already sell 100 per cent British fresh pork, lamb and poultry and earlier this year announced it was moving to 100 per cent British beef.

With pig farmers losing up to £12 per pig the pig farming industry in the UK is simply not sustainable but if more retailers follow the lead of Waitrose, with their payment model taking production costs into account and sourcing of UK produce then there may be hope.

Natalie Mitchell, Senior Meat Buyer at Waitrose, said “British pig farmers produce some of the world’s best pork – and they need our support now more than ever before. It would be an absolute travesty if Britain were to lose one of its finest farming industries at a time when Britain is sourcing large quantities of bacon from abroad. Our decision to source all of our own label fresh pork, bacon and sausages from the UK sends out a strong vote of support to British pig farmers who are experiencing very difficult trading conditions.”

Whilst I accept this is the advertising machine at it’s best, compare this to Asda’s “commitment” to British Beef which falls far short of the smaller retailers attitudes.

Public attitude must also be considered, when the Lancashire Telegraph released the story of Morrisons switching to 100 per cent British beef earlier this year, a comment was left by someone calling themselves Burnley Taxpayer and said “I’m getting tired of all this ‘back British farmers’ nonesense. I don’t recall farmers being out there demanding we all buy British coal or steel when the pits and stellworks were being closed by competition from cheap foreign imports. If it’s cheaper and just as good I’ll happily eat French or New Zealand meat.”

Clearly the message isn’t getting through and the farming industry needs to work harder to change the publics attitude. The British public demand stringent animal welfare in rearing, transporting and producing our meat, this adds to costs that foreign imports are not subject to. We cannot have it both ways, we cannot demand stringent welfare and then go to the supermarket and buy the cheapest meat we can without any concern for how the animals are reared, transported or slaughtered.

If we allow our farming industry to follow the steel and coal industries there will be no resurrection, we can physically live without coal and steel but how long can we live without food?

Stewart Houston, Chairman of both the National Pig Association and the British Pig Executive said “This is very good news for the British pig industry and Waitrose is to be congratulated for the move. The tangible support Waitrose has shown for the British pig industry is most welcome in these difficult times. That support manifests itself in the innovative buying policy which maximises the value of the pig throughout the supply chain and it is something we believe should be adopted more widely. Once again Waitrose has taken the lead.”