Farmers who are campaigning for a fairer deal have protested outside the Houses of Parliament along with nearly 50 scarecrows.
The protest stunt on Monday (22 January) was in response to the poor treatment of farmers by the UK's largest retailers and their suppliers.
Farmers behind the #GetFairAboutFarming campaign said the 49 scarecrows represented the 49% of farmers who fear they’ll go out of business in the next 12 months.
It comes as parliament debated the issue on Monday after well over 100,000 people signed the campaign's petition urging supermarkets to treat British farmers more fairly.
It’s debate day in parliament for our #GetFairAboutFarming petition. We’ve brought 49 scarecrows with us, representing the 49% of farmers who fear they’ll go out of business in the next 12 months. Is this the day we start to see some seeds of change ? It couldn’t be more urgent?? pic.twitter.com/kPUP5IAYWc
— Riverford (@Riverford) January 22, 2024
An open letter was sent to the CEOs of Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons, Aldi and Lidl over three months ago warning that the farming industry was “on its knees”.
Farmers behind the #GetFairAboutFarming campaign want the UK's largest supermarkets to adopt new principles as a way of spreading fair trade across the industry more widely.
One of the key asks from the campaign is for the government to amend the Grocery Supply Code of Practice (GSCP).
This would see supermarkets required to buy what they agreed to buy, pay what they agreed to pay, and pay on time, without exception.
Defra responded to the petition: "The government is committed to tackling contractual unfairness that can exist in the agri-food supply chain and Defra is working to support farmers and ensure they get a fair price for their products.
"We announced a new review into fairness in the horticulture supply chain building on what we have already got underway to improve transparency and contracts in the pork and dairy markets."
Guy Singh-Watson, founder of Riverford Organic who launched the campaign, said there was a clear message being sent to the ‘big six’ and the government to safeguard the future of British farmers.
He said: “Despite the encouraging public support, the lack of a mere acknowledgement from the ‘big six’ is insulting at a time when British agriculture is on its knees.
“Our countryside is being desecrated because that’s the only way you can produce ‘cheap food’ and farmers in my sector are not being paid fairly.
“The pressure further increases on supermarkets to act now and avoid having their poor practices exposed to the nation in a debate in parliament.”
The public can still show their support for the campaign by signing the online petition.
