Lib Dems want fair trade for UK farmers (South East Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats)

South East Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats <info@secambslibdems.org.uk>

Lib Dems want fair trade for UK farmers

October 24, 2009 3:22 PM

Liberal Democrats applaud the Fairtrade Foundation in celebrating 15 years of the Fairtrade mark and the news that the Government is to provide £12 million over the next four years in funding to Fairtrade, but they also ask that UK farmers get a fair trade deal too.

Figures from the Department for the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs show that since 1988 the proportion of the retail price of food paid to the producer has fallen by as much as 37 per cent and that in 2008 just 10 per cent of the price of a white sliced loaf of bread went to the farmer growing the wheat.

Jonathan Chatfield the Lib Dems' parliamentary spokesperson for South East Cambridgeshire says these statistics show that our farmers need a fair trade deal too. He explained:

"It is Lib Dem policy for branches, local parties, and council groups to purchase products bearing the Fairtrade mark or equivalent wherever possible.

"But we also want a fair deal for our farmers too and we are concerned that in the present economic circumstances it is our farmers that are being squeezed to maintain supermarket profit margins.

"While the price paid for milk and meat makes the headlines, arable farmers who account for the majority of those farming in South East Cambridgeshire are also squeezed by the supermarkets.

"Farmers have seen big increases in the price of fuel, fertiliser and animal feed. The National Union of Farmers says that these input costs rose by nearly a third last year. But the recent recession busting profits declared by the major supermarkets show that its the producer who's having to bear the brunt of these increased costs.

"That's why Lib Dems want a supermarket watchdog to ensure a fair deal for UK farmers.

"Whenever possible we want shoppers to buy local or UK produce because this makes sense both economically as well as environmentally.

"If you buy locally grown or UK grown food we should expect a fair trade for our farmers in the same way that the Fairtrade mark ensures farmers in developing countries receive an agreed and stable price for the crops they grow.

"And as with Fairtrade our farmers should receive a price that covers the cost of sustainable production, as well as additional income for farmers to invest in the future."