In this week’s freshinfo poll a quarter of readers believe that last week’s supermarket protests could herald a change in regard to retailers’ stranglehold on the market. “I believe that we are at a turning point in terms of people’s attitudes,” said reader Lois Dewhurst. “There is no question that the supermarkets are killing our farming base by driving down prices - you do not make the profits Tesco does by any other means - …I believe that bird flu will play a huge part in making the supermarkets realise that you have to have a good home-based foundation for the source of your food.”

Another reader backed buying power and points to changing times ahead. “It is easy to criticise the supermarkets, but how many of you are willing to pay a fair price for home-grown produce,” he said. “If cheaper veg comes from abroad, loyalty is saying to home growers ‘drop your price or else I will buy Spanish. Do people care where there produce is grown? …The supermarkets are powerful, but people’s buying power is stronger.”

But of whose making is the stranglehold? “We consumers have sold out to the supermarkets,” said another reader. “Supermarkets do not determine the market consumers do…we only have ourselves to blame for the mess that our food industry is in,” she said.

The trade itself must also bear some of the responsibility, said another voter. “What got us into this mess is that there is always someone willing to do a little more for a little less just to get a little more market share,” he said. “People will always say ‘you have to look after number one.’”

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