Foot & Mouth Disease and the way to a sustainable food industry
The spread of Foot and Mouth disease across the country is the latest 'crisis' in
what can broadly be described as the food industry. There are, however, a number
of common features of the way this industry has and is developing, which have
both initiated and exacerbated this problem. Looking at some of these briefly
may give us ideas of how we in Birmingham, as consumers rather than producers,
might influence a more positive way forward.
1. Import of meat. It seems that the disease arrived with imports from a country
which has Foot and Mouth. Why are we importing meat when we produce sufficient
here - so much so that we are exporting large numbers of animals as well? As
consumers we should aim to buy food produced as locally as possible. Supermarkets
will generally not tell you where food comes from, so best to go to a local butcher
or farmers' market.
2. Transportation and cheap fuel. Massive movement of animals around the country
has allowed the disease to spread very quickly. Much of this is again down to
supermarkets who insist on animals being transported to specific abattoirs often
on the other side of the country, so avoid buying from supermarkets. The same
applies to processed meat products. Supermarkets are able to operate in this
way because cheap fuel and subsidised road transport allows them to play farmers
off against each other and drive down prices. Higher fuel tax would therefore
help small farmers and reduce transportation of livestock as well as having other
environmental benefits. This aspect is made worse by there being no tax on aircraft
fuel, allowing cheap imports.
3. Demand for cheap meat. Consumer demand for cheap meat has encouraged intensive
farming, lowering of standards and cheap imports. Supermarkets spend millions
on advertising to convince you that their products are cheaper - but this is
often not true. Local butchers will provide better prepared and better quality
meat at comparable prices while supermarkets take the excess in profits. The
highest quality meat may cost more but is often worth it.
4. Consumer laziness. Supermarkets play on the convenience factor - you can
buy everything under one roof instead of visiting a number of small shops. As
consumers, our laziness is allowing intolerable pressures on small farmers and
driving them out of existence. It is easy to blame supermarkets for a lot of
problems but they only exist because we shop there.
5. Free market capitalism. There is no such thing as a free meal - or a free
market. The price of economic liberalisation is intensification of farming, transportation
of animals around the country to be traded as a commodity, a lowering of quality
standards and a drive for exports. A recent report indicates that vaccination
could be done in a matter of days and halt the spread of the disease in weeks
- but this would affect the country's "disease-free status" and harm exports,
so MAFF and the intensive farming lobby oppose it. Issues around globalisation
often appear complex, but at the end of the day it affects the quality of the
food you eat and the environment in which you live.
Nick Whittingham