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Cumbrian farmers back local food solutions
4 May 2002
Friends of the Earth's Real Food Debate Visits Kendal
Farmers and members of the public heard two quite different solutions to tackling the current economic crisis in farming at a public meeting in Kendal last night, organised by South Lakeland Friends of the Earth.
Guest speaker, Sean Rickard of Cranfield School of Management, told the audience that market forces were the only way to deal with current difficulties facing farming. Efficient farmers would be the only ones able to compete globally and that would mean fewer and bigger farms.
He added that big efficient farms were no more damaging to the environment than small ones.
Tony Juniper, director designate of Friends of the Earth, argued that the global free market approach ignored vital environmental and social issues and would drive millions of farmers world-wide off the land. He said that public money should be used to reward farmers for sustainable land management and to build a local food system.
The food chain, he said, is dominated by large corporations which shift food around the world, regardless of the environmental impact and the impact that this has on farming communities and local economies.
Meeting organiser Marianne Bennett of South Lakeland FOE said:
"We are delighted by the big turnout to our meeting, and especially that so many farmers came and contributed. It was pretty clear that most farmers supported Friends of the Earth's solutions of localised fair trading, linked to sustainable land management. The Government must urgently direct money into these areas and legislate to regulate the power of the big supermarkets to control prices farmers receive for their products."
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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust
Last modified: Jun 2008
