This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/mar/27/tesco-farm-labels-supermarkets-consumers-cheap-food

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
The supermarkets take us for mugs. And we let them The supermarkets take us for mugs. And we let them
(5 months later)
The voice of Enid Blyton is in there somewhere, telling us, once upon a time, about those happy children of Cherry Tree Farm, frolicking with the lambs in rural paradise, enjoying perpetual summers, wholesome diets and the traditional pleasures of British agricultural life. They live in a land in which nobody has to visit a food bank to feed their family; childhood obesity is unknown, and globally, millions of people are no longer starving to death. Instead, good quality, affordable, unadulterated food, grown locally, is the norm for all – some fairy tale.The voice of Enid Blyton is in there somewhere, telling us, once upon a time, about those happy children of Cherry Tree Farm, frolicking with the lambs in rural paradise, enjoying perpetual summers, wholesome diets and the traditional pleasures of British agricultural life. They live in a land in which nobody has to visit a food bank to feed their family; childhood obesity is unknown, and globally, millions of people are no longer starving to death. Instead, good quality, affordable, unadulterated food, grown locally, is the norm for all – some fairy tale.
“Farm fresh” is a label that works as a nostalgia button long pushed by retailers and advertisers to summon up dreams of quality, reliability and value. Instead, it ought to warn us of an increasingly dystopian world. One in which shoppers are too often taken for mugs. Yet, we continue to give the supermarket chains our custom, no matter how badly they behave.“Farm fresh” is a label that works as a nostalgia button long pushed by retailers and advertisers to summon up dreams of quality, reliability and value. Instead, it ought to warn us of an increasingly dystopian world. One in which shoppers are too often taken for mugs. Yet, we continue to give the supermarket chains our custom, no matter how badly they behave.
It’s Tesco again in the dock accused of misleading us by using fictitious farm names that sound British to sell imported foods, from as far afield as New Zealand and South Africa. Woodside Farm, for instance, is stuck on a smoked gammon joint that the label also tells us comes from a pig “reared in Holland, slaughtered in Germany”. Boswell Farm is on beef and Redmere Farm on vegetables that are part of Tesco’s “Brand Guarantee” – “meeting the need for a new level of quality”.It’s Tesco again in the dock accused of misleading us by using fictitious farm names that sound British to sell imported foods, from as far afield as New Zealand and South Africa. Woodside Farm, for instance, is stuck on a smoked gammon joint that the label also tells us comes from a pig “reared in Holland, slaughtered in Germany”. Boswell Farm is on beef and Redmere Farm on vegetables that are part of Tesco’s “Brand Guarantee” – “meeting the need for a new level of quality”.
At a branch of Budgens in Sussex, where I shopped recently, eggs, tomatoes, fruit, and other produce had the name of the local farm and the distance from the store. A Tesco customer would tramp many a mile and still not find the mythical Willow Farm and its chickens.At a branch of Budgens in Sussex, where I shopped recently, eggs, tomatoes, fruit, and other produce had the name of the local farm and the distance from the store. A Tesco customer would tramp many a mile and still not find the mythical Willow Farm and its chickens.
Tesco is British agriculture’s biggest customer. Along with Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Asda, it dominates more than 72% of the market. How have we allowed a system to emerge that squeezes the whole supply chain in the name of profit and seduces us into ignoring our carbon footprint for that dubious consumer privilege called “choice”?Tesco is British agriculture’s biggest customer. Along with Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Asda, it dominates more than 72% of the market. How have we allowed a system to emerge that squeezes the whole supply chain in the name of profit and seduces us into ignoring our carbon footprint for that dubious consumer privilege called “choice”?
The Competition Commission broke up the large UK dairy farmers’ co-operative, Milk Marque, in 1999 while allowing the supermarkets to dictate terms to suppliers, drive down prices, and build out-of-town hypermarkets that have helped in the demise of many a high street.The Competition Commission broke up the large UK dairy farmers’ co-operative, Milk Marque, in 1999 while allowing the supermarkets to dictate terms to suppliers, drive down prices, and build out-of-town hypermarkets that have helped in the demise of many a high street.
Earlier this year, Christine Tacon, appointed as the first Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) following the 2013 horse meat scandal, which revealed that beefburgers, among other produce, were not entirely (to put it mildly) beef, reprimanded Tesco for its behaviour to suppliers.Earlier this year, Christine Tacon, appointed as the first Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) following the 2013 horse meat scandal, which revealed that beefburgers, among other produce, were not entirely (to put it mildly) beef, reprimanded Tesco for its behaviour to suppliers.
The GCA can fine a company up to 1% of its annual UK turnover. Critics, however, say the GCA has too few legal sanctions, too small a budget, no power to initiate investigations independently, and whistleblowers have too little protection.The GCA can fine a company up to 1% of its annual UK turnover. Critics, however, say the GCA has too few legal sanctions, too small a budget, no power to initiate investigations independently, and whistleblowers have too little protection.
In 2015, a survey of 1,141 suppliers revealed that 70% had at least one problem under the Groceries Supply Code of Practice, with the supermarket chains.In 2015, a survey of 1,141 suppliers revealed that 70% had at least one problem under the Groceries Supply Code of Practice, with the supermarket chains.
Improvements have been made. Under pressure from campaigners such as Jamie Oliver, food waste, for instance, is now being addressed. (The UK dumps 15 million “good” tonnes a year.) Asda is now selling wonky fruit and veg, while last year Tesco announced it would work with the charity FareShare to distribute 30,000 tonnes.Improvements have been made. Under pressure from campaigners such as Jamie Oliver, food waste, for instance, is now being addressed. (The UK dumps 15 million “good” tonnes a year.) Asda is now selling wonky fruit and veg, while last year Tesco announced it would work with the charity FareShare to distribute 30,000 tonnes.
Sustain, the alliance for better food and farming, rightly wants much more. It seeks a new consensus in which it is “unacceptable and expensive to promote unhealthy, unethical and unsustainable produce”.Sustain, the alliance for better food and farming, rightly wants much more. It seeks a new consensus in which it is “unacceptable and expensive to promote unhealthy, unethical and unsustainable produce”.
Before that can even begin to happen, however, we first have to erase the strange debt of gratitude that persists that we somehow “owe” those who make a sizeable profit from giving us cheap food. In Working Class Wives, Margery Spring Rice, writing in the 1930s, provided descriptions of the diet at the time. Mrs D of Liverpool had nine children and a husband described as “a seafarer”. She ate mostly “tea and toast and margarine, egg at weekends and kipper twice a week”.Before that can even begin to happen, however, we first have to erase the strange debt of gratitude that persists that we somehow “owe” those who make a sizeable profit from giving us cheap food. In Working Class Wives, Margery Spring Rice, writing in the 1930s, provided descriptions of the diet at the time. Mrs D of Liverpool had nine children and a husband described as “a seafarer”. She ate mostly “tea and toast and margarine, egg at weekends and kipper twice a week”.
Yes, we have witnessed a consumer miracle – a commoner can almost feast like a king, albeit not knowing quite what he or she is swallowing – but it comes at a cost. Alongside the lack of a properly regulated market and decent protection for suppliers lies the absence of a good minimum income for every citizen that means, as the Fabian Commission on Food and Poverty pointed out last year, what it called, “household food insecurity” is endemic for those whose weekly income, whether working or non-working, isn’t sufficient. And in the background, we are only sleepily awakening to the fragility of the global food chain.Yes, we have witnessed a consumer miracle – a commoner can almost feast like a king, albeit not knowing quite what he or she is swallowing – but it comes at a cost. Alongside the lack of a properly regulated market and decent protection for suppliers lies the absence of a good minimum income for every citizen that means, as the Fabian Commission on Food and Poverty pointed out last year, what it called, “household food insecurity” is endemic for those whose weekly income, whether working or non-working, isn’t sufficient. And in the background, we are only sleepily awakening to the fragility of the global food chain.
We need a re-invigorated national debate – already supported by initiatives such as the Sustainable Food Cities network in areas such as Oxford, Hull and Glasgow – to sort out our unhealthy relationship to food.We need a re-invigorated national debate – already supported by initiatives such as the Sustainable Food Cities network in areas such as Oxford, Hull and Glasgow – to sort out our unhealthy relationship to food.
A study last week said only a third of apples and one in six pears and plums eaten in Britain are grown here. After losing thousands of orchards and farms, Britain is now dependent on foreign production that could be hugely disrupted by droughts and heat waves resulting from climate change, according to Tim Lang, professor of food policy at City University, and co-author of the study. He partly blamed supermarkets and said: “UK policy is tacitly a kind of ‘soft’ food imperialism – using others’ land and labour rather than one’s own.”A study last week said only a third of apples and one in six pears and plums eaten in Britain are grown here. After losing thousands of orchards and farms, Britain is now dependent on foreign production that could be hugely disrupted by droughts and heat waves resulting from climate change, according to Tim Lang, professor of food policy at City University, and co-author of the study. He partly blamed supermarkets and said: “UK policy is tacitly a kind of ‘soft’ food imperialism – using others’ land and labour rather than one’s own.”
Related: Manners maketh management: Tesco bosses told to be nicer to staff
Global food security is close to home. Take the Easter egg. The salt may have come from China; palm oil from south east Asia; whey from New Zealand; sugar from the Caribbean; cocoa from South America, on and on. Britain imports food from more than 180 countries.Global food security is close to home. Take the Easter egg. The salt may have come from China; palm oil from south east Asia; whey from New Zealand; sugar from the Caribbean; cocoa from South America, on and on. Britain imports food from more than 180 countries.
Last year, the National Farmers’ Union warned that more than half of the UK’s food will come from overseas within a generation, leaving us vulnerable to volatile prices and potential shortages. It called for new investment in British farming and a national plan to ensure a higher degree of food self-sufficiency.Last year, the National Farmers’ Union warned that more than half of the UK’s food will come from overseas within a generation, leaving us vulnerable to volatile prices and potential shortages. It called for new investment in British farming and a national plan to ensure a higher degree of food self-sufficiency.
Last month, a conference called, Our Food Future 2016 considered how to bring about a radical rethink on how we “produce meat, utilise water, sow land and grow crops in places where previously there was no sustainable life”.Last month, a conference called, Our Food Future 2016 considered how to bring about a radical rethink on how we “produce meat, utilise water, sow land and grow crops in places where previously there was no sustainable life”.
A survey revealed that the public like cheapness but we also want to limit the detrimental effect the food chain has on public health and the environment. We want more government intervention to control the market domestically but we are yet to restrict our appetites for non-seasonal food and the perfectly shaped pear.A survey revealed that the public like cheapness but we also want to limit the detrimental effect the food chain has on public health and the environment. We want more government intervention to control the market domestically but we are yet to restrict our appetites for non-seasonal food and the perfectly shaped pear.
We consumers need not be passive. We have clout. A happy ending would be a global decent secure diet for all. As customers, shopping basket in hand – and if we can afford to do so – a slogan of Stop, Think, Choose is at least somewhere to begin.We consumers need not be passive. We have clout. A happy ending would be a global decent secure diet for all. As customers, shopping basket in hand – and if we can afford to do so – a slogan of Stop, Think, Choose is at least somewhere to begin.