Groceries code adjudicator Christine Tacon has urged the fresh produce industry to better promote itself as a worthwhile career path for women.
Acknowledging that interest among young women to enter into farming is at a low, Tacon also told FPJ that she feels women do not have a big enough voice on the boards of agricultural firms.
Tacon explained: 'I expect that there is still nowhere near enough interest in young women coming into food and farming and we need to promote it as a career that will suit them. We need to be careful about working hours if we want to attract young people, particularly women, as if they are really good, they will be able to get jobs elsewhere that pays more for less hours.
'Boards need to have a diversity of talent in order to work well: there are as many female brains as male, so it seems mad to choose your board from only half of the available skill base.'
Tacon, who was previously MD of The Co-operative Farms, admitted that there is still a male dominance on the boards of farming firms, but believes that is slowly changing.
'In agriculture, there is a predominance of women in communication and environment fields, rather than operational,' she said.'In the boards I am on, the chairman of one business still refers to us all as “gentlemen” but it doesn’t worry me, maybe it’s an indication that I have been accepted as one of them?'
You can read FPJ's Women in the Boardroom feature, available online and in print from 5 July.
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