The big six supermarkets appear to ignore petition

A campaign calling for them to adopt fairer principles was backed by 50,000 members of the British public, with an open letter sent to the CEOs of Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons, Aldi, and Lidl just over two weeks ago asking them to treat farmers fairly and warning that the British farming industry was “on its knees”.

Over two weeks on, there has been no response from the high street giants to the #GetFairAboutFarming campaign, which was launched by organic fruit and veg box company, Riverford, who have a long-standing ‘Fair to Farmers’ charter. Now, the company wants supermarkets to adopt some of these principles as a way of spreading fair trade across farming more widely.

Over 100 public figures signed the #GetFairAboutFarming open letter, including conservationist Ray Mears, TV presenters Julia Bradbury and Jimmy Doherty, chefs Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Melissa Hemsley, and musicians including JLS singer JB Gill and Marcus Mumford of Mumford and Sons, also backed the campaign, alongside industry bodies Sustain and Soil Association.

Natalie Bennett, the former Leader of the Green Party, also backed the campaign, saying in the House of Lords: “Farmers suffer major economic loss and a huge amount of food is wasted because supermarkets order food and then refuse to take it and to put it on the shelves and it rots in the fields.”

It comes after research from Riverford, found that 49% of British fruit and vegetable farmers say it's likely they will go out of business in the next 12 months, and many blame supermarkets and their buyers as a leading threat to their livelihoods.

Supermarkets seem to have ignored pleas

Over 50,000 signatories have now supported the #GetFairAboutFarming petition demanding the Government amend the Grocery Supply Code of Practice (GSCP) to require retailers, without exception, to:

• Buy what they agreed to buy

• Pay what they agreed to pay

• Pay on time

The principles are taken from Riverford’s Fair to Farmer's charter - a document devised by founder Guy Singh-Watson to lay down ethical business practices among growers and farmers, to ensure a fair deal is always achieved.

Mr Singh-Watson, founder of Riverford Organic said: "The reaction and level of support for this campaign has been very encouraging. From the backing of our open letter by industry experts, chefs, MPs, and fellow farmers, to the 50,000 members of the British public who have signed our petition, it is abundantly clear that this is an urgent issue that needs to be addressed.

“However, the silence from supermarkets is deafening. British agriculture is on its knees, with research showing that many farmers attribute their fear of closure to the behaviour of supermarkets. And yet not one of the ‘Big Six’ has responded to our calls for better business practices, to safeguard the future of fruit and veg farmers in this country.

“The supermarkets must act now. This marks a critical moment where we can take a stand against harmful practices, and create a better, fairer future for British food and farming. "

Riverford’s petition calling the government to intervene and protect Britain’s food system can be found here: petition.parliament.uk/petitions/643216.