From Crop to Cart: Fixing Supermarket Supply Chains

Easy parsnip carrot bake (Full of Plants)

The price of supermarket apples has gone up 17% (yet the cost of growing them is far more, yet farmers see little extra payment). This also means more will be imported, bad for our endangered orchards, bad for farmers and bad for the planet.

67% of small farmers are too scared to speak out, in case they lose contracts.

Get Fair about Farming is a campaign began, after learning that 75% of fruit and veg farmers are scared they may fold within a year, citing supermarkets as the main cause. The founder has written an open letter to the big six supermarkets, asking supermarkets to:

• Pay on time (not up to 12 weeks, illegal in the rest of Europe)
• Not wiggle out of contracts.
• Pay what is agreed. One farmer grew 60 tonnes of salad potatoes, then was told they were no longer needed, leaving him ‘financially screwed’.

The campaign is asking for people to write to their MPs, to back the campaign for a new proposal in  Parliament, which calls for a single, strong independent regulator, to ensure fairness across the entire food supply chain, from farmers to retailers.

At present, the regulatory system is split across two government departments, with little power to hold supermarkets to account.

The Fair Farming Charter

• Buy what you committed to buy.
• Pay on time.
• Commit for the long term.
• Agree on fair specifications
• Pay what you agreed to pay.

Fair Farming Survey Results

A survey was conducted with Riverford anonymously, showing the results of horticultural farmers who have traded with supermarkets in the last 5 years:

99% had been forced to accept one of the follow conditions:

• Being offered lower prices due to unreasonable demands on colour, size or shape
• Late payments and cancelled orders
• No notice for changed terms
• Unfair pricing

Over half of those surveyed said they did not believe the government treated them as important enough, and expected their family farms to go out of business, within the next generation. With half saying they did not expect their farms to survive the next 2 years.

Top concerns of farmers at present were:

• Freak weather causing crop failures
• Risks in future government support
• Being dependent on supermarkets for income
• Supermarket behaviour (more than rising costs)
• Receiving cancelled orders from supermarkets

It’s interesting that this survey was done before the hash of the government’s budget, which led to a massive u-turn after farmers were descending on London in tractors to peacefully protest.

Crowdfarming (order food direct from farmers)

Crowdfarming is a a worldwide site that’s like an online version of community supported agriculture, to keep farms secure. Instead of selling at a pittance to supermarkets, users can ‘adopt a fruit tree, then receive your ‘money back’ when the fruit is harvested.

Or alternative, buy seasonal boxes from farmers, delivered direct to cut out middlemen, so farmers keep the profits. This also helps to avoid food waste, as you likely (unlike supermarkets) don’t care if your carrots are curly, if you’re using them to make soup!

Financial Help for Small Organic Farmers

Jo Grundy

Many small farmers tend their crops and look after their animals well. But often have to either sell at a pittance to big supermarkets, or suffer from rising costs, high tenancy rents and/or natural disasters like floods, and end up living on the breadline, some even suicidal.

Also read tips on running a tiny profitable organic farm.

The good news is that there are wonderful small charities that can help:

• Forage Aid helps with free feed and bedding, if your farm has suffered due to weather or an ‘act of God’. Farmers receive silage, hay and straw.
• Addington Fund offers emergency accommodation relocation help, if someone has lost their farm or home, due to finance or ill health.
• The Farming Community Network has volunteers (many with farming backgrounds) to listen to those struggling with practical or emotional problems. It also runs Farmwell (grants and funding).
• RABI offers financial support and counselling to farming families who need help with paying bills, and can find grants and therapy sessions.
• The Royal Countryside Fund invests in projects for rural communities, with grants to upskill  and support young farmers, and boost local markets.
• Hen Helpline is run by a charity that rescues chickens (and roosters) designed to be killed, after end of egg-laying life. The free helpline helps with anything chicken!

A Healthier Crunch: Benefits of Local Organic Apples

Due to England’s mild climate, England’s apples are some of the best-tasting on earth, but not the ones sold in most supermarkets. They mostly spray apples with shellac (made from dead insects, to make them waxy) so always look for organic apples in farm shops, if you live nearby. Same for pears.

Apple chunks are choking hazards for babies and people with swallowing difficulties. Keep apple pips/seeds/cores away from pets due to natural cyanide.

Ask permission before feeding to equines, as too many cause colic. If given permission, feed cut up from a flat palm, to prevent choking).

Which Apples to Use for What?

There are hundreds of varieties of English apples, so don’t just limit yourself to Cox, Braeburn and Granny Smith!

• Bramley apples are good for cooking, as they are too sour raw. Use in apple pies and crumbles, or to make apple sauce.
• Red Prince apples are sweet and tart, and smell a bit like roses!
• Evelina apples are crisp and sweet, with a little acidity.
• Cox was invented in Slough (Surrey) and a good balance of tart and sweet.
• Granny Smith is very tart, and good for making French tarte tatin.
• Comice pears are particularly good with vegan cheese.

The main types of apples that you’ll find in shops are:

• Royal Gala is the most popular. It has a crispy bite and is very sweet, with a stripy red skin.
• Russet apples are light brown with ‘cream freckles’ and are very sweet. These are quite similar to pears, and lovely with vegan cheese.
• Cox apples have good bite, and a honey aroma
• Bramley apples are green and tart, best for cooking.
• Braeburn are actually native to New Zealand, but now grow here widely.

Did you know that the Core Blimey apple was commissioned by the Orchard Project after a national competition? A local dessert apple, this is similar to a Cox apple but bred to be more disease-tolerant so is easier to grow organically.

If you grow apples, learn about pet-friendly gardens (many plants and mulches are unsafe near animal friends). And use nontoxic humane slug and snail deterrents.

Avoid netting and read tips for wildlife-friendly gardens. Also how to create safe havens for garden birds and stop birds flying into windows.

A Short History of the English Apple

The Apple: A Delicious History is the fascinating 10,000 year story of the world’s most tempting fruit (yet 70% of apples in England are imported, which is why it’s good to buy local apples to preserve our heritage orchards (also buy organic, to avoid the ‘waxy apples’ covered in shellac – dead insects).

This book takes us on a tour of apple’s prehistoric beginnings in the Tian Shan mountains of Kazakhstan to the modern day.

You’ll learn how apples even featured on the shopping list of a senior Roman officer on Hadrian’s wall. The perfect gift for anyone enjoys a slice of apple pie or a drop of cider, get to know your apples (from Bramley to Cox).

In the early 1840s, a young Yorkshire vicar set about planting an orchard next to his new farmhouse. Around him the world was in turmoil. Ireland was in the throes of its great famine. Western Europe teetered on the cusp of violent revolution.

In setting out his orchard, our tree-planting vicar was investing in a happier future. Those fifteen or so tiny saplings would eventually transform into veteran trees which still every autumn, sit heavy with pounds of apples. That orchard and its farmhouse are now my home.