FOOD HAS RIGHTS TOO

Over the last couple of years we have seen a growth in healthier foods being sold in the shops. Consumers are now demanding more produce which is fresh, free from additives and pesticides. We see a growing number of organic products and free range meats with some advertising the animal’s life being comfortable.

We have some very strict guidelines when it comes to farming and we see that the industry is always suffering in one way or another. If we put an immediate ban on foreign produce that does not meet proper animal welfare standards and include all fruit and vegetable to be organic we can make an immediate start in getting the nation into a healthier life style and promote home nation produce.

In the mean time we give our own farmers a time frame that is reasonable to adjust their methods to free range and organic. I would propose we put a bill in place to force the supermarkets to offer a fair price not only to the farmer but to the customer as well. By introducing a cap on supermarket pricing we can stop some of the underhanded deals that they operate in squeezing the competition.

It is correct for the likes of celebrity cook Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall and Jamie Oliver to highlight the terrible conditions of battery chickens. The entire Members of Parliament should have backed this campaign and promoted it also. Yet they did not and shame on them for this blunder. One or two did get on board and must be credited yet the cabinet at Downing Street should have made this a top issue.

I would also propose that we work in partnership with foreign farmers who are poverty stricken. The fair trade scheme adopted by some supermarkets is a good move but a government can do much better. By building trade links with third world farmers is not only the right thing to do but also the moral thing to do.

We should adopt a policy of boycotting any country’s products if they have not met the same standards that we have set out. This must also include the transportation of live stock and include strict rules on animal welfare. In doing this we would lead the world in food produce and production and setting an example for the world to follow.

In having this approach to food we would see an end to the dangerous foods and help cut down on obesity. Fast food chains would still be able to operate and trade but the food on offer must be free from any chemicals and be open about animal welfare. The film by Morgan Spurlock, Super size Me; shows the terrible facts about chemically enhanced food and the damage it does. We have a duty to outlaw this practice.