AIBU not to support the British farmers

[WitchofScots]

My Facebook is full of people saying they don't mind paying more for milk because they support the British Farmers.

If milk is more expensive then that's going to deprive children from families on/below the poverty line of a healthy drink, fruit is expensive, organic meat is expensive, ditto vegetables but milk is relatively cheap.

I'd gladly pay a bit more for milk.

Does anyone know which shops are fairest for farmers and which are worst

I am sympathetic to British dairy farmers and try and buy local when I can, but I get a little frustrated when I go to the supermarket and see stacks and stacks of Danish butter, French yoghurts and Dutch cheeses.

Why aren't British producers adding value to their products in this way? Why aren't British products to be found all across continental supermarkets in the same way?

There is also lots of evidence from NZ to show that when all subsidies were stripped away, contrary to what everyone thought would happen, in general, the farming industries became more efficient and more profitable and thrived.

Oh well - I stand corrected, carol.

The war thing is bollocks - we imported 70% of our food in 1939, compared to 40% today and 20% in the 1980's

I'd be most interested to read the report from where you got those figures, Carol , if you could possibly provide a link. Thanks

70% other data

When I read through threads like this, I often think to myself:

Where are all the poverty campaigners and food bank proponents?

Many a long Mumsnet thread is filled with their protests, calls for justice
and worthy accounts of their support & donations.

Yet rarely or never does anyone come on to a thread like this and say "No, let's keep the price of milk and many other foods as low as possible as this is one very effective way of alleviating the poverty of not only the poorest in our society but actually all of us"

YABVVVU. The price difference to you will be next to nothing per pint of milk.

Self-sufficiency in food in the UK has been eroded since the 1980s: about 60% of food currently consumed here is grown here, down from nearly 80% in the mid 1980s, even though more varieties of food previously thought exotic are now grown in the UK.

The problems created for British farmers when cheap imports flood the UK’s market have been illustrated in recent weeks. A glut of dairy products on international markets has sent prices to farmers plummeting, driving thousands out of business and threatening a future in which the UK has to import its fresh milk.

Thank you Carol - This report is interesting, as it seems to back up what most of us have been saying, and doesn't appear to support your argument at all. It mentions nothing about imports during WWII. I did find something about the UK importing 70% of foodstuffs at the beginning of WWII (1939), which you mentioned. But haven't yet found anything for the wartime years after that.

It is late though, and I have been awake since 3:00am, so my mind is feeling fuzzy and I'm missing something. I may have to come back to it sometime over the weekend!

Maybe I'm missing something.
(Yes, I'm very tired Yawn )

My argument is that since the war UK farmers have been subsidised to produce food because we suffered in the war years (although that was extended by the Labour party's desire to continue rationing permenantly).
This made sense in the immideate post-war years, but not know. If you look at the New Zealand link above, they abolished all farming subsidies in 1984 with dire warnings of disaster, and the farming sector has been geeting stronger and larger ever since, with better land management and better animal management.

Those unwilling to pay more particularly with regard to animal welfare are always the ones with bottles of wine in their basket... Or who bleat about poverty but buy fags with their cheap chickens

I would happily pay double what I pay for milk at the moment .

I'm married to a dairy farmer and it is not just a job, it is a lifestyle. He leaves the house at 5am EVERY DAY, unless we actually go away somewhere (for maybe a maximum of 10 days a year in total). He finishes work at around 6.30pm on a good day, but then has to go out again at around 9pm to check on the cows who are due to calve as sometimes they need assistance. He is often shattered and will fall asleep anywhere.

In terms of my life and our DC, I do everything at home and also go out to work as a teacher. There is very little 'sharing' of chores at home as he isn't here for more than about 2 waking hours a day!

Global markets are the main factor according to DH, he is heavily involved in our milk Co-op and thankfully in a position to question the big wigs at the top. Russia and Chine used to buy lots of milk powder but Russia are boycotting and China have stocks at the moment. He doesn't think the price has reached the bottom yet :-(

DH is a highly educated man. Degree from Oxford, saves money by working out all sorts of things that other farmers pay professionals to do because he has the maths knowledge. It makes me so cross to see him working his arse off for so little.

You didn't think this one through properly did you OP?

Little, brought a tear to my eye, if people truly knew the hard work it takes to bring the food to our table, they surely wouldn't begrudge paying a decent price.

Tear to eye here also. Am determined to only buy organic from now on. If the British dairy market collapsed we'd all be moaning about the expensive, substandard Euro imports.

And while I'm at it, don't buy Danish bacon.

Im far from well off, but I support farmers getting a fair price, the bottom line is if farmers go out of business then milk will have to be imported from abroad............given the horsemeat scandal I would be extremely worried about how the milks produced/possible contamination etc and would NOT trust foreign milk, I would then sadly have to give up milk, cream, butter, cheese etc etc as I couldn't risk drinking milk from abroad personally, I just wouldn't trust it. Also many countries have far lower food standards and welfare standards for their animals and of course it wont be as fresh as milk from the uk.

I suspect (but no idea) also that baby milk prices would rise too as a direct result.

I think there is a massive problem with farming in this country, and the subsidies and supermarkets just don't help.

As I see it (as an outsider) the problem is all the farmers are locked into the big dairies who can pay whatever price they like - the farmer has nothing to bargain with.

Somehow the big dairies and the supermarkets need to be bypassed.

And on the other hand people need to stop assuming that food should always be ridiculously cheap. You see on Mumsnet people doing their meal planning, and they'll be worthy and stick in a meat free.Monday. That's meat 6 days out of 7/and that should just not be affordable for the vast majority of people.

I don't know how to solve the problem, but I think there needs to be more selling direct to the consumer, and people need.to be educated that they don't need to eat meat everyday, and they don't need to go through pints and pints of milk everyday.

That way prices could go up for consumer and farmer, and animal welfare could.go.up to.

Thank you. We're not organic but we are part of the farmer owned co-op Arla, who supply some supermarkets with their supermarket own brands. Anchor and Lurpak are owned by us so buying those brands helps. I will only buy Cravendale when I buy milk as I refuse to pay 75p for 4 pints!! It also lasts longer and is creamier.

Tesco, Sainsburys, M&S and waitrose are all paying a fair rate so it's not impossible to by milk reasonably

Reasonably fair to SOME farmers HoneyDragon, but tough luck to the rest who couldn't get a contract to supply them. Not exactly a good price for those farmers either, slightly more than breaking even which is not what I'd call reasonable to be honest.

Part of the problem is that, as farmers, we don't get a universal price for our product, therefore allowing a price war.

can you not have it straight from the farm littlemiss?

when I was younger a family nearby had a smallholding and would sell milk in 2litre pop bottles "straight from the cow" it was lovely and im desperately trying to find somewhere similar nowadays but with no success, perhaps its not legal to do so, I don't know?

caroldecker NZ is not a great place to buy milk from a consumer point of view. New Zealanders pay so much for their milk that it is an issue on the political agenda. So perhaps that reflects that yes, we should be paying more? Milk is certainly more pricey there than here.

We get an organic milk delivery to home three times a week. But then I am the daughter of a dairy farmer, so I could not bring myself to underpay.

Sources:

nz.news.yahoo.com/election/a/-/28617149/call-for-inquiry-into-supermarket-duopoly/

www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/277414/inflated-milk-price-claim-rejected

www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11473094