Last week, EU agricultural ministers announced proposals to make pesticide regulations even stricter. Iztok Jarc, who chaired the meeting, commented that if successfully put in place, this dossier would “facilitate the competitiveness of the European agriculture sector”. What an ironically inaccurate statement that could prove to be. At a time when food prices are at an all-time high, with farmers and suppliers alike struggling to make a sufficient margin, to put another hurdle in our way could quite feasibly have massive repercussions.
I can never profess to be a pesticides expert and, as a leading fresh produce supplier to foodservice, we fully endorse regulations that protect the consumer from nasties, but how - especially in the current climate - are farmers meant to invest in a total method overhaul and deem this “healthy competition”?
The very policies that ministers apparently think will provide an opportunity for farmers may well be the final nail in the coffin. High prices do not constitute opportunity in growing circles - it is not a great excuse for farmers to assume there will be increased demand and therefore greater yields and profit, but rather the complete opposite.
Let’s look at the facts: no proof as to the factual benefits to human health were reported and, if farmers are forced to uphold these legislations, then their costs will soar. The grower loses out, the consumer loses out, the country’s economy loses out, and a huge part of our heritage and land will once again be threatened.
Gordon Ramsay’s wish to see seasonal produce on every menu will be all washed up - the average consumer can say goodbye to many home-grown products, which farmers just will not be able to sustain. I applaud the fact that this will mean consumers will have to say goodbye to endless shelves of ‘Frankenstein food’ - lines of one-grade coloured product - but are the mums out there really going to buy products potentially tarnished by pest damage?
It is cringe-making to consider the contradictions being thrown at us currently - we are punished for buying produce that is scarcer or has travelled a long way by paying a premium, and now we may be forced to do just that for the majority of any fresh produce bought in the EU. Local sourcing will go out of the window. British farming will suffer immensely. And God forbid, the frozen market will experience a boom. Goodbye 5 A DAY, hello cod, chips and peas.
If only we could have a minister with the title Mr or Mrs Common Sense, they would get my vote every time. The world can no longer see the wood for the trees - just where has the middle ground disappeared to? It seems ministers that represent our struggling farming fraternity are waving their hands in agreement to legislation that could wave goodbye to UK - and European - crop production. How hard Uncle Sam must be laughing behind his stars and stripes handkerchief...
