As animal rights campaigners call on consumers to boycott milk from farmers participating in the badger cull, The Grocer asked the country’s leading supermarkets to outline their stance on the cull.
Most retailers said the cull – currently being piloted in a bid to curb bovine tuberculosis – was a matter for government policy and farmers, which would not affect their own sourcing policies.
Some also pointed out they do not happen to source milk from areas of the country due to take part in the pilot. The first such area is West Gloucestershire.
NFU head of food chain Lee Woodger said he was disappointed to see some retailers make reference to not sourcing from trial cull areas and suggested this could be down to “a disconnect” between the retailers’ trading and agriculture teams and their PR departments.
“We hope this isn’t wilful – and indeed we’ve no reason to expect so, as the NFU understands that all retailers agree that the location of a cull has no impact on their sourcing,” Woodger said.
“The NFU is in the process of contacting all the major retailers to ensure they have the correct information on the trial cull, including the potential benefits, so they are more confident in their defence of a sensible sourcing policy.”
The retailers’ responses, listed below, come as a coalition of 18 animal rights groups – led by Save Me, the wild animal campaign group of Queen guitarist Brian May, and including the RSPCA – has launched a billboard campaign against the cull.
It has been widely reported that, at the launch, the RSPCA called for a “boycott” of milk from farmers who participate in the trial cull. But a spokeswoman for the organisation said no reference to a boycott had, in fact, been made.
Badger cull – what the retailers say
Tesco: “Animal welfare is an important and sensitive issue for many of our customers and we take our responsibilities in this area very seriously. We also recognise the significant threat that bovine tuberculosis disease poses to our dairy farmers and their livelihoods.
“We are committed to supporting them through this challenging time and have no plans to stop sourcing from farmers in the affected areas. The cull policy and its implementation are a matter for government and the farming community to take forward.”
Morrisons: “Our stance is that we source both milk and beef from around the country and will continue to do so. We have no plans to alter the way we source these products as a result of the action being taken.”
Sainsbury’s: “We take animal welfare very seriously and it is a top priority for us and many of our customers. While we recognise that the culling of any animal is a highly emotive subject, we also recognise the significant threat that the bovine tuberculosis disease poses to the Health and welfare of British livestock as well as the livelihoods of many of Britain’s beef and dairy farmers, as the number of cattle infected continues to rise.
“Indeed, in 2010-11, nearly 51,000 cattle in England had to be slaughtered in an attempt to control the spread of the bovine tuberculosis. We strongly support the eradication of bovine tuberculosis but acknowledge the need for controls to be conducted by scientists and experts in this field, which is what the current approach does.”
Asda: “We can confirm that none of our Asda Dairylink farmers are in the West Gloucestershire area.”
Waitrose: “We fully understand the strength of feeling on both sides of this debate, but this is a government-led initiative and participation is entirely at the discretion of farmers themselves.”
Waitrose also pointed out that it does not have any dairy farmers in the pilot cull region.
Marks & Spencer: “We understand the issues facing the farming industry and that a solution needs to be found. We are awaiting the results of the government trial. There are no M&S milk pool suppliers in the pilot area.”
The Co-operative Group: “We can confirm that none of the farmers within The Co-operative Dairy Group are located in the proposed cull zones. However, as we do not operate a segregated milk supply chain, it is possible that some of our milk may have come from farms in the proposed trial areas.”
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