Cash-strapped farms have been kept afloat by EU subsidies, but the postponement of replacement subsidies after Brexit has put many farms in dire straits.
In 2019, the UK received around £4.7 billion in funding from the EU under the Common Agricultural Policy. Without this subsidy, between 19% and 42% of farms would not have been able to break even. EU subsidies are gradually being replaced by UK government schemes, but funding gaps remain.
Supermarkets have a huge market share, so producers are forced to sell through them. To attract consumers, these giants lower their prices, often below the cost of production.
Meanwhile, trade deals with Australia and New Zealand are flooding the British market with cheap southern hemisphere beef.
“With easy access to cheap imported food, rising house prices and a growing inequality crisis, it is truly difficult to live on a CSA farmer’s wage. This is neither fair nor sustainable for the farmers who protect the environment, build communities and provide local, sustainable British food,” Russell added.
Consumers want to “buy British,” and an NFU survey of 2,000 adults last summer found that 87% supported greater self-sufficiency in Britain’s food production, up from 80% in 2022.
But with the cost of living continuing to rise, many shoppers can only afford the cheapest foods, said former food bank administrator Charlotte White.
“Rishi Sunak’s post [about buying British] “It’s infuriating and shows how out of touch with reality he is,” she said.
“When it comes to food, many people in this country face tougher choices than whether to buy British food. Can I pay for tonight’s meal? Does the meter show I’ve got enough electricity to power my oven? Will that tin of beans last for three days? These are all questions we ask at food banks. A mother once told me she was struggling to make ends meet and couldn’t feed her children every night, so they took turns eating dinner together.”
Foodbank use is higher than ever, with at least 3,000 foodbanks operating across the country. Many people facing food insecurity don’t even have access to a foodbank: the latest Department for Work and Pensions Family Resources Survey data shows that 86% of Universal Credit households reporting severe food insecurity don’t use a foodbank.
“Focus on making sure people have money in their pockets and can afford to eat,” White urged politicians.
British agriculture can be competitive – not to mention the environmental benefits of buying locally grown produce – but the CSA Network said policy action was needed to make this happen.
“If we really want people to buy British produce, the Government needs to protect farmland, support the policies called for in the Fair on Farming campaign, reduce the power of supermarkets and support small-scale agro-ecological farming,” Mr Russell said.
“The solutions are there but the political will is lacking. Policy changes could bring about fundamental change in our food system, but their interests lie with multinational corporations, shareholders and the wealthy, not the farmers and producers who feed us.”
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