With daily revelations of products tainted with horsemeat, the cries for backing British and stemming imports get louder as people seek better traceability within the food supply chain.

Yet at a time when the public wants more British fresh produce, there are voices calling for one sector of our food industry to be abandoned rather than farmed by foreign workers.

The labour-intensive fruit and vegetable sector is dependent upon migrant workers to help harvest, but with the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Scheme (SAWS) still facing an uncertain future, the industry is rightly concerned as to who will pick the produce.

Probable not British workers – that’s already been shown as a non-starter despite many attempts by the industry to recruit from the UK. The facts, whether politicians want to hear them or not, are that there is a lack of British workers willing to toil in fields, live in temporary accommodation and take non-permanent work.

“It is not that we don’t want British workers – we bend over backwards to recruit them,” says soft-fruit grower Anthony Snell. “But there is just not enough of them willing to take on this work and we are dependent upon migrant workers.”

Snell has built an impressive soft-fruit business at his 450-acre Pencoyd Court Farm, which produces strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries and blackcurrants, grown both organically and conventionally. He is also vice chairman of the NFU’s Horticulture Board, with special responsibility for labour issues.

Like many farmers and growers, he is adamant that if he could recruit enough British workers, who would match the reliability and work ethic of the SAWS applicants, he would take them in a heartbeat.

In a memorable 2010 BBC 1 documentary presented by Evan Davis, The Day the Immigrants Left, unemployed British jobseekers were asked to step into migrant workers’ shoes and do the jobs they are so often accused of ‘stealing’ from local communities. At an asparagus farm three local unemployed people were asked to harvest the product, and all three admitted they couldn’t and actually wouldn’t want to do the work.

While the BBC could be accused of finding three of the laziest local people to prove a point, anecdotes abound of how British workers are not as dedicated or disciplined to complete the work required of them.

Unfortunately for the horticultural sector, the issue has been mixed in with immigration, which has led to people such as Martin Ruhs, director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, posed the question of whether the UK’s soft-fruit industry should continue.

However, consumers have already eaten the consequences of suppliers sourcing from overseas. While there is the argument that it is far easier to spot fraud in fresh produce, the issue is still about traceability, quality and air miles.

There is also the added problem of securing product in a global market where weather patterns are changing and new markets are opening up and creating competition. Buyers can no longer rely upon fulfilling demand from sources where product might be scarce. The National Farmers Union recently submitted its consultation response to the Migration Advisory Committee. Not only does it address food security but also the fact that the horticulture sector contributes £3 billion to UK GDP and employs around 37,000 people in England on a permanent basis. The industry estimates are that for every four seasonal workers employed one full-time British job is created.

“It is an economic, not a migration issue,” reiterates Snell. “The two have become confused when the fact is these are seasonal workers, they come here and when the work is finished they go home. We are not talking about mass migration, there’s only 20,000 workers that come here and without them this industry would struggle.”

In response to the debate around SAWS, one recruitment agency has devised a scheme to attract 200 UK applicants for horticultural jobs. Licensed labour provider HOPS Labour Solutions says the programme participants will receive free training with a guaranteed job at the end, paying an average of £200 to £450 a week, depending on the role, for those who successfully complete the course.

A HOPS spokesman says although these are temporary roles, due to the intense demand for good workers in this country, candidates looking for regular work throughout the year and who are prepared to move where the job takes them could ultimately find themselves in full-time permanent employment.

While this is admirable and hopefully will attract more British people into horticulture, right now the industry needs thousands of workers and without a replacement for SAWS, applications are not going to come from these shores in the near future.

An example from fruit grower AC Goatham shows the difficulty facing the industry; last year it spent £1,400 on advertising vacancies in the Kent local press and radio. From these efforts, only two people managed to last more than one week.

Goatham’s spokeswoman Sarah Calcutt says that one of the main obstacles to recruiting British workers is that the benefits system is not designed to favour seasonal work. Should a claimant take six to eight weeks of picking work, they can then face up to three months without benefits as a new claim is processed.

“It is understandable why the British unemployed do not want to take up seasonal work,” she says. “Which is a great shame, because the work is a fantastic experience. Not only can people earn good money, but they get fit, it’s all outdoors and it is an introduction to an important and exciting industry.”

Seasonal labour agency Concordia agrees, saying that its research has found that for local unemployed, the prospect of temporary work is not attractive given the benefits situation.

“SAWS is not an immigration scheme but one that limits immigration through its temporary nature and the fact that it can be structured as a student scheme, as it was before 2008, to ensure that participants return home,” adds a spokesman.

“Concordia considers SAWS, uniquely, to have enabled flexibility from a managed workforce, which can respond swiftly to changing demand.”

“Practically every developed country has a migrant workforce to help with labour shortages,” adds Snell. “The workers that come here are paid exactly the same wages as a British worker, it is not about getting work on the cheap. They pay tax and national insurance and while they are here contribute to the local economy.”

The NFU says it believes a new SAWS should return to the origins of the original scheme as a youth work experience programme, open to university students of agriculture from any countries with ‘returns’ arrangements with the UK. It would appear that without overseas workers, the UK may lose its ability to secure British produce for its consumers. —

SAWS QUOTA SET FOR 2013

SAWS operates to a quota set in advance by the British government. In 2013 the quota for overseas workers is 21,250 places.