Memorandum submitted by Iorwerth Rowlands
MBE (RAS 20)
1. Having read the DEFRA "vision"
document (59 pages of statements) one has to wonder whether any
input from an ordinary farmer can possibly have any effect on
your decision making. Whilst it may seem to be a democratic opportunity
to participate in the decision making document you are going to
produce—I cannot see how you will be prepared to accept
anything I seriously put forward. However, given the opportunity,
I feel conscious bound to make the effort. The following points
are the main requirements not only for the British farmer but
for the British consumer.
2. Not many of you will know the actual
situation when this country was desperately short of food or will
have felt the hunger pains associated with it and you may need
to be reminded that it was the British farmer who enabled us to
be fed during the period 1939-45 and beyond, with valuable assistance
from one of the best merchant navies and sailors in the world.
There is no longer a British merchant fleet and although the jumbo
jets can carry food in a very short time, the vulnerability of
this transport is plain for all to see as is the environmental
damage their exhaust output is causing. It may be that none of
you think it possible for such a situation to arise again and
one would hope that you are right—but it is not that simple
or that likely. Other nations of the world are developing their
industrial abilities and this will mean their competition in the
world markets to feed their own people and the cost increases
will naturally effect British consumers. It looks very possible
the British consumer will not be in a position to cope with these
increased costs as job opportunities are opening up elsewhere
in the world whilst in Britain, regardless of which party is in
Government, will continue to decline. Terrorism is another factor
which could easily make damaging inroads into the food security
of this country.
3. Supermarkets are destructive in their
greed for immediate profits and care little about long term positions
and interests of those who produce to supply their market. The
reasons why supermarkets food is imported cheaply is due to third
world producers paying pitifully low wages and the difference
in air transport costs replaced by this cheap labour. Where is
the justice in that?. We pretend that Globalisation is for the
benefit of the world: this is nothing but blatant nonsense and
and excuse for financial opportunism. Is there any sense in milk
produce being imported into this country whilst the payment to
our dairy farmers has reduced from 26p per litre in 1996 to 18p
per litre currently. During the same period milk has increased
in price to the consumer from 42p per litre to anything from 53p
per litre to 65p per litre with supermarket mark-up increased
in this period from 8% to 35%. Does this make sense to you, who
demonstrate clearly to only be interested in ensuring that
grant support from the British family purse is removed?
4. CAP rules should be the same for ALL
the European countries but this is in fact not true. As an example
the Italian Government have over the years been guilty of failure
to contribute on over production of milk and it is a fact that
unlike the United Kingdom farmers in Italy were not levied and
any payments that did get paid came from their Treasury. The affair
of Parmesan should be sufficient evidence of their contempt
to operate within the rules. If we are to remove grant support
I would like to see a level playing field throughout Europe. There
is little doubt that the European edicts are more rigidly observed
and acted upon in the UK than elsewhere.
5. Environmentally the damage caused by
the air transportation of food is massive. The "food miles"
issue is at last receiving the attention by the British public
and hopefully you will take into effect in your deliberations.
A program by Sir Trevor MacDonald on ITV last night indicated
clearly the minor difference in cost between home produced food
and food travelling huge distances. The programme dealt with
two families, each given an identical menu for the day with one
to buy it all in the supermarket and the other to buy locally
from farm shops etc. The difference in cost was minimal but the
different in food miles was 172 food miles local and at the supermarket
13,600 food miles. Think of the damage not only by aircraft pollution
but also by the huge lorries polluting the air we breathe plus
the global warming aspect in both cases.
6. Whatever your conclusions are please
make certain that every one of the countries in the Union operate
under the same rules and that supermarkets are in some way controlled
so that they cannot offer milk as a regular "loss-leaders"
to prevent the destruction of a the solid base of home produced
food and by doing so, ensuring future unreasonably priced food
for the British consumer.
June 2006
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