Supermarkets are failing to support the countryside and the rural economy, campaigners have warned.
After a turbulent year for farmers – with poor weather estimated to have cost the industry more than £1 billion – the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) quizzed the major supermarkets over what they were doing to help.
Members bombarded the biggest food retailers – Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Marks and Spencer, The Co-operative and Waitrose – with 7,000 emails asking how they were supporting farmers, local food producers, and the management of the countryside.
The CPRE said while they found "some welcome initiatives", the retailers "could easily do much more to help farmers and the countryside".
Ian Woodhurst, senior food and farming campaigner at CPRE, said: "Supermarkets dominate the grocery sector and our food chain. Given this, they need to use their immense market power to support the nation's farmers, the countryside they manage, and boost sales of local food.
"The 'Big Seven' need to take a more joined-up approach to farming, local food, and our countryside so that consumers can buy high-quality food, knowing that the farmer has been paid a fair price while maintaining the beauty of the English countryside.
"CPRE will continue to lobby supermarkets to increase their support for English farming and the management of countryside, and stand up for the producers, processors, suppliers and retailers of local food."
The group called on the supermarkets to pay farmers a fair price for their produce by taking fluctuations in the cost of fertiliser, diesel and animal feed into account in supermarket pricing formulas. It also wants them to stock and promote more "countryside- friendly" food such as produce from Linking Environment And Farming (LEAF) farmers, woodland eggs or conservation-grade cereals, to help to manage landscape features and wildlife habitats.
The campaign group also suggested at least 10% of sales in a supermarket should come from the local area – defined as from within 30 miles.
Mr Woodhurst added: "The horse-meat scandal has shown what can happen to the food chain if there is a race to the bottom on price. The same lessons need to be learnt to secure a better future for farming and the countryside, as well as to boost local food economies."
Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium which represents the supermarkets, said they were "great supporters of local food producers" and members had "pioneered schemes" including the Safe and Local Supplier Approval scheme "to help more small local producers get their goods into store".
He added: "Ultimately, retailers meet consumer demand and while many are interested in local produce it is not all consumers and varies across the country. Farm prices are influenced by more than just retailers, as we have seen in wheat prices."
