People say they value British farming - but they aren’t prepared to pay more for local food. So what can be done, asks Richard Clarke
Research out this month shows that a whopping 87% of us think agriculture is important to Britain’s heritage, a fact that will have put many farmers on a high.
After all, organisations such as the National Farmers’ Union have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds over the past two decades on campaigns designed to get us to love them just a little bit more.
But before our farmers could get too comfy up on cloud nine, they were brought back down to earth with a bump by another figure from the same study: only 18% of us would pay more for British food. Some 51% of us don’t care where our food is produced and, asked to rank the 11 key considerations that determine what we buy, origin came a lowly ninth. Guess what’s first? Yes, price.
This new IGD research, conducted on the orders of the Sir Don Curry-led Sustainable Farming and Food Implementation Group and sponsored by Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury and Waitrose, will have sunk farmers’ morale to new lows. But their leaders believe there are positives to draw from the survey.
NFU president Tim Bennett says the fact that people value the countryside “is an opportunity to reconnect with them”.
And that is exactly what Sir Don wants to achieve. He believes great headway has been made in reconnecting farmers with the marketplace, but that it is now time to get the public to make the connection between the countryside they love and the food they buy in the supermarket. If they don’t, he warns, the future of the British countryside remains in doubt. “The commitment of consumers to
purchase home-produced food will be a significant factor in sustaining the farming and food industry and ensuring a viable future.”
Although Sir Don is worried about the price-driven retail agenda, he draws comfort from other research showing that 70% of consumers want to buy local food.
This is an area in which retailers have been making plenty of positive noises. Sainsbury says 3,500 of the 30,000 products stocked in its stores are locally made. But cynics say distribution of local products in supermarkets is limited. Nevertheless, the government sees it as a growth opportunity.
Lord Bach, parliamentary secretary for sustainable farming and food, has just awarded Food from Britain another £2m to help it promote local produce over the next two years. He admits that Defra has in the past put too much emphasis on farmers’ relationship with the environment and not enough on the food they are producing. He adds: “I want to put the emphasis back on the continued production of British food.”
So what can be done to reconnect British consumers with British food? A recent conference, organised by Sir Don’s office, sought to begin an industry-wide debate. The event was chaired by Lucy Neville-Rolfe, director of corporate affairs at Tesco, which some farmers blame for the downturn in their fortunes. They argue that Tesco’s low-price agenda has made food production unsustainable for many farmers and growers.
The Tenant Farmers’ Association refused to attend the event because of Neville-Rolfe’s involvement. Chief executive George Dunn says: “Tesco is simply not interested in allowing farmers to communicate with consumers. Farmers need direct routes of reconnection, not indirect ones.”
However, the fact remains that a supermarket is the closest that many consumers will come to connecting with British farming.
Ultimately, it is the multiples’ input that will determine whether or not Sir Don’s vision of reconnecting consumers with the provenance of their food comes to pass.
Research out this month shows that a whopping 87% of us think agriculture is important to Britain’s heritage, a fact that will have put many farmers on a high.
After all, organisations such as the National Farmers’ Union have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds over the past two decades on campaigns designed to get us to love them just a little bit more.
But before our farmers could get too comfy up on cloud nine, they were brought back down to earth with a bump by another figure from the same study: only 18% of us would pay more for British food. Some 51% of us don’t care where our food is produced and, asked to rank the 11 key considerations that determine what we buy, origin came a lowly ninth. Guess what’s first? Yes, price.
This new IGD research, conducted on the orders of the Sir Don Curry-led Sustainable Farming and Food Implementation Group and sponsored by Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury and Waitrose, will have sunk farmers’ morale to new lows. But their leaders believe there are positives to draw from the survey.
NFU president Tim Bennett says the fact that people value the countryside “is an opportunity to reconnect with them”.
And that is exactly what Sir Don wants to achieve. He believes great headway has been made in reconnecting farmers with the marketplace, but that it is now time to get the public to make the connection between the countryside they love and the food they buy in the supermarket. If they don’t, he warns, the future of the British countryside remains in doubt. “The commitment of consumers to
purchase home-produced food will be a significant factor in sustaining the farming and food industry and ensuring a viable future.”
Although Sir Don is worried about the price-driven retail agenda, he draws comfort from other research showing that 70% of consumers want to buy local food.
This is an area in which retailers have been making plenty of positive noises. Sainsbury says 3,500 of the 30,000 products stocked in its stores are locally made. But cynics say distribution of local products in supermarkets is limited. Nevertheless, the government sees it as a growth opportunity.
Lord Bach, parliamentary secretary for sustainable farming and food, has just awarded Food from Britain another £2m to help it promote local produce over the next two years. He admits that Defra has in the past put too much emphasis on farmers’ relationship with the environment and not enough on the food they are producing. He adds: “I want to put the emphasis back on the continued production of British food.”
So what can be done to reconnect British consumers with British food? A recent conference, organised by Sir Don’s office, sought to begin an industry-wide debate. The event was chaired by Lucy Neville-Rolfe, director of corporate affairs at Tesco, which some farmers blame for the downturn in their fortunes. They argue that Tesco’s low-price agenda has made food production unsustainable for many farmers and growers.
The Tenant Farmers’ Association refused to attend the event because of Neville-Rolfe’s involvement. Chief executive George Dunn says: “Tesco is simply not interested in allowing farmers to communicate with consumers. Farmers need direct routes of reconnection, not indirect ones.”
However, the fact remains that a supermarket is the closest that many consumers will come to connecting with British farming.
Ultimately, it is the multiples’ input that will determine whether or not Sir Don’s vision of reconnecting consumers with the provenance of their food comes to pass.
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