Prince Charles has urged the UK's leading supermarket chains to do more to promote British farming.
Leading retailers including Sir Peter Davis, the chief executive of Sainsbury's, and Sir Terry Leahy, the chief executive of Tesco, were summoned to a dinner at Highgrove on Friday night where they were urged to buy directly from farmers co-operatives and look at new ways to sell local produce.
14 Nov 2002: Marks & Spencer is launching the rollout of Radio Frequency Identification ("RFID") tagging of 3.5 million returnable food produce delivery trays.
RFID is a new technology, which enables remote accessing and editing of information, without the need to replace the label or look up data on a central database. In retail terms, it will provide detailed information on stock and allow staff and suppliers to read that information six times faster, leading to reduced wastage, extended production time and even later despatch times. The technology on the trays will be used from supplier to distributor to the shop floor.
18 Nov 2002: Safeway Northern Ireland has signed up to the Northern Ireland Governments Retailers Charter -Wake up to Waste aimed at tackling the growing problems of waste in the province.
The Charter is part of the Retail Partnership initiative which has been set up by Environment Minister Dermot Nesbitt and officials from his Environment and Heritage Service (EHS).
13 Nov 2002 (Bloomberg): European Union regulators are replacing tariffs with rules to block imports of such products as chemicals and foods, according to U.S. business groups that are urging the Bush administration to challenge the alleged practice.
A dozen organizations, representing Monsanto Co., Sara Lee Corp. and hundreds of other companies, will send a letter this week to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick saying Europeans ignore evidence that confirms the safety of known chemicals and genetically modified organisms and food ingredients.
15 November 2002: The NFU has warned that "the very fabric of the countryside is being completely torn apart" following today's publication of Government figures showing a further 15,000 job losses from farming in England. The figures - the first since the end of the foot and mouth outbreak - show the biggest exodus of farmers from the industry since the Second World War.
Broad and shallow policy will hit farmers who are already 'green'
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has warned that new schemes to protect the rural environment announced by environment minister Michael Meacher could make it more difficult for the most environmentally friendly farmers to stay in business.
