Worth paying a higher price for our food
The only positive thing which has come from the horse meat scandal is the first signs that there may be a major change on the way over how the meat we buy is sourced and supplied.
The scandal has highlighted the fact that processed meat often comes through complex supply chains which stretch across the continent.
A poll for the National Farmers' Union suggests that more than three-quarters of people surveyed wanted supermarkets to stock more food from British farms.
And NFU president Peter Kendall said yesterday: "If there's one single message that's come from the horse meat scandal, it's that our consumers want to know their food is coming from as close to home as possible."
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Meanwhile, Tesco chief executive Philip Clarke has promised to buy more meat from the UK and Sainsbury's has said it is also committed to increasing the amount of British food it sells.
That is good news, but we would like to see the supermarkets go further still and source more products locally.
Shorter supply lines mean greater benefit to local farmers and other businesses and help to sustain local economies.
They also mean a reduction in transport costs and less pollution caused by long-distance travel.
There will inevitably be fears that a greater emphasis on shorter supply lines and high quality will mean that prices rise.
However, it is surely worth paying a little bit more to be sure of what we are eating, particularly if that helps our own economy in the process.
In fact, what has happened over the past 30 years is that there has been a significant reduction in food prices in real terms.
That has, of course, been a good thing for family budgets.
However, part of that decrease has been driven by the pressure for ever-cheaper food which has resulted in the long supply chains mentioned earlier.
The cost of food should not just be measured in terms of the price of products on the shelves but also in terms of things like quality, the environment and the health of local economies.
In these respects, paying a little bit more for a packet of burgers might benefit us all.
2 Comments
by llamalamb
Thursday, February 28 2013, 7:28PM
“Try telling families living on the breadline that higher food prices are a good thing.
Typical Tory claptrap.”
by disident3
Thursday, February 28 2013, 8:51AM
“The answer lies with imprisonment of the owners who contaminate other foods. They know where much of this meat came from. Up to now I have not heard of one prosecution pending. Great if you are a Councillor or MP (expenses cover this), but if a pensioner struggling to live now. Are we going back to the days of bread and lard sandwich?”