ASDA has announced the launch of 'Scotland's Best', a new local sourcing initiative, in 34 Scottish stores. The Scotland's Best range consists of over 70 new products sourced from 22 new suppliers and is truly a local range with all products being selected on a store-by-store basis reflecting local customer demand.
29 Nov 2002: After long and difficult negotiations EU food and agriculture ministers have reached agreement on the proposal for a regulation on GMO food and feed, measures that are expected to have considerable impact on food manufacturers in Europe.
President of the Council, Danish minister for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Mariann Fischer Boel said: "With the political agreement on the proposal we have taken an important step towards offering consumers a real choice when it comes to GMOs. This is an important victory for the European consumers."
However, Raymond Destin, Director General of the CIAA (Confederation of the food and drink industries in the EU) was critical: "The food and drink manufacturing industry strongly regrets that the Member States did not take into consideration its concerns on the practical implications of the agreed labelling rules, not only for food operators but also for enforcement authorities."
Two new surveys, by the Institute of Grocery Distribution and Friends of the Earth, have found that UK shoppers inevitably put price considerations above ethics when deciding what food to buy, but at the same time believe that producers are not given a fair deal by the supermarket chains.
The IGD research finds that few people make a connection between the food they buy and the wider sustainability issues.
Logos for a growing number of schemes relating to the environment, animal welfare and fair trade appear on food products in the supermarket, but most shoppers don't recognise them nor wish to spend time looking for them.
IGD's research shows that price, sell-by-date and taste are the main factors influencing purchase by over 70% of consumers. In contrast less than a quarter of consumers consider factors covering production issues, such as GM, animal welfare, and grown in the UK as influencing purchase.
In contrast, the survey by Friends of the Earth reveals that most of the British public think supermarkets are giving farmers a raw deal. Almost two thirds think farmers are not paid enough by supermarkets for the food they produce. And more than four fifths want the supermarkets to give preference to UK products over imported products when in season.
27 Nov 2002: UK sales of Fairtrade chocolate are set to double, according to The Co-op, as it replaces its entire existing own-brand range with a new range of Fairtrade chocolate bars.
The supermarket chain has struck a deal with a co-operative of small farmers in Ghana to supply it with cocoa in return for a guaranteed fair price that will cover the cost of production and provide them with a basic living wage.
An estimated 284,000 children work in hazardous conditions in West Africa's cocoa industry, according to a study on child labour in the region's cocoa farms. The Co-op's move will help to protect children and adults from forced labour in this sector.
This is a massive boost for the Fairtrade movement. Other supermarkets will be watching The Co-op's progress very keenly.
London, 25 Nov 2002: Robert Campbell, LEAF's chairman, said the LEAF Marque signalled a clear good news message to farmers, consumers, the environment and the wider food chain.
"The LEAF Marque means that consumers will be able to show they care for the environment through the food they buy and for the first time recognise, by their choice, the contribution farmers practising Integrated Farming make to managing the countryside."
"The LEAF Marque is an industry led initiative it is the result of several years of collaboration with a broad range of organisations throughout the food chain. Its development has taken a long time in order to ensure that the standard is firmly rooted in good farming practices and can be independently verified. "
London, 1 Dec 2002: More chemicals are used to grow food in Britain than in any other major industrialised country, according to a new report.
A review of British environmental performance by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) suggests that the amount of pesticides and fertilizers used per acre of farmland is greater than in any other country.
Last week, the Department of the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) told The Independent on Sunday that the level of chemicals was "not acceptable". And a House of Commons committee said a voluntary agreement with farmers and landowners to control pesticides was in chaos. Defra's reaction surprised farmers' leaders, who are used to government acquiescence in chemical use. The report shows that Britain uses 0.58 tons of pesticides for every square kilometre of land, more than twice the OECD average and nearly three times as much as in the US though Japan and Italy use more and France about the same.
London, 28 Nov 2002: Overall farming income in the UK is up 11 per cent (nine per cent in real terms) to £2.27 billion, according to figures released by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Income per capita rose by 15 per cent (13 per cent in real terms) this year, according to government forecasts. The figures show that the average full-time farmer earned £10,700 in 2002. Total income is still far below its 1995 peak, however.
Lord Whitty, Food and Farming Minister, said: "We recognise that farmers are experiencing hard times, therefore any increase in incomes is welcome news. These increases reflect the efforts of farmers to improve business performance.
But the National Farmers' Union said the industry was over-stretched and undermanned - a situation that was unsustainable.
NFU President Ben Gill said: "A lot of the improvement has come about because farmers have pared down their input costs, particularly by shedding hired labour."
NFU analysts believe income figures have been pushed up by better production figures in some sectors and improved output and income from beef and sheep.
In the last six years more than 67,000 farming jobs have been lost in England alone.
