Cymraeg Well done to our pumpkin carvers who lit 1,000 pumpkins in parliament square to “Save Our Standards”!
What was the issue?
The Landworkers Alliance pushed for MP’s to vote for Amendment 16B to the 2020 Agriculture Bill on November 4th– adding a commitment to stopping low standard imports in the law. We believed that this commitment in the law would achieve a longer lasting result than the establishment of a Trade and Agriculture Commission.
What did we do?
As a union representing small and family farms we felt that the statutory Trade and Agriculture Commission the government announced lacked broad representation and overlooked many of the vital issues the public are concerned about. We weren’t satisfied with it and called upon the government to broaden representation and its remit significantly.
We felt the commission didn’t have enough focus on:
- representation for small and family farms – we don’t just want export opportunities, we want to get a fair price for producing for the UK market
- domestic food production and protecting certain levels of self-sufficiency in the UK (their central focus is still on finding export opportunities for farmers)
- environmental protections and food safety- especially standards concerning pesticides
- understanding of the impact of food miles/ transportation on the climate
- standards for pork producers- we don’t want lower standards on farrowing crates and ractopamine (ie its not just about hormone beef and chlorinate chicken)
- the impact on developing countries. We maintain that high standards are good for producers in developing countries because it protects workers from damaging pesticides and other unsafe working conditions.
More importantly, we were concerned that this announcement would quell the rebels and stop MPs from voting to put a commitment to stopping low standard imports in the law. The future of British farming for many generations to come depends on decisive legal protection. Put it in the law!
On the 4th of November 2020 we organised a pumpkin stunt and asked our members and supporters to carve pumpkins which were then arranged in Parliament Square to read SOS. Save Our Standards!
