The NFU has attempted to put scare-stories of food price rises into context, saying that whilst the costs of farming are rising, food prices are now lower than they have ever been.
Carmen Suarez, chief columnist for the NFU magazine British Farmer and Grower, said that in the last 20 years, food retail prices have increased by over 50 per cent, while farmgate prices have stagnated.
“Farmers know all too well that, despite being part of the same supply chain, increases in retail prices and in wholesale prices do not necessarily result in a jump in the prices paid to farmers.
“Recent increases in commodity prices are a reflection of global demand and supply conditions and represent an opportunity for British farmers to benefit from a long-awaited and overdue recovery in farmgate prices.”
And she added that to the extent that they translate to higher farmgate prices, it will be good news for the rural community,
Sixty years ago, the average British family spent over a third of its income on food, compared to the current average expenditure which amounts to less than a tenth of a family’s income.
