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Living streets, local food; Green Party action plan for a local, independent, vibrant economy |
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By Philip Booth for the Gloucestershire Green Party - February 2005
1. Introduction
"Between 1995 and 2000, we lost one fifth of our local shops and services including post-offices, banks, butchers and grocers."
'Ghost Town Britain' New Economics Foundation
"In 1960, small independent retailers had a 60% share of the food retail market. By 2000, their share was reduced to 6% while the multiples share increased to 88%."
Grocery Retailing 2002: The Market report IGD
“Today, those of us who are not farmers express our connections with nature in combinations of three ways - by visiting it, by joining organisations, and by eating the food...Perhaps most importantly because it is a daily activity, we eat the food produced from farms that are shaping nature on a daily basis. We vote once every two, three or four years, yet we shop every week, or even every day. We must have food, and in having it we also encourage the system of production that brought it from land to larder. This means that the food system as a whole deserves description as something that belongs to us all - yet in an unretrained or unregulated context, the tradgedy is that we over-consume and under-invest in these commons. Worse, we appear not to appreciate the consequences.”
Some Benefits and Drawbacks of Local Food Systems J. Pretty, 2001
Our report “Supermarkets: Challenging the myth that they promote jobs and are good for the local economy” looks at some of the issues that have led to the current state of play where the main supermarkets now have 81 per cent of the market. There is now strong evidence to show that our local high streets, and local food producers are being damaged by these superstores. They attract customers away from independent shops and overwhelmingly source their produce from abroad, and their services "in house".
Similar concerns are now arising over the rapid increase in the supermarkets new “Metro”, “Express” and “Central” stores which are increasingly colonising out towns and neighbourhoods.
The net result is that money is being drained out of the local economy and redirected towards just a few large farms or large businesses. Supermarkets are not good for our communities and are not helping to build vibrant, local economies.
This is not progress.
Greens believes Real progress is a vibrant local economy, with locally sourced and organic produce being sold in thriving independent shops. We believe that having shops and services within close reach for all isn't a luxury: it's a necessity.
Real progress would be supermarkets becoming real market centres again owned by their local communities and producers, where farmers from the local region would sell their seasonal produce, and local producers would bring their wares. All products from further afield would be fairly traded and imported by small companies. There does not need to be exploitation in the food system.
This report looks at policies that will build local, independent, vibrant economies.
2. The benefits of local food schemes
It seems obvious to many that there are benefits attached to increasing local food schemes, like farmer's markets, local procurement, and organic box schemes. However the extent of the benefits are often forgotton. The benefits in brief are:
2.1. Economic
- Ł10.00 spent in an organic box scheme will generate Ł24.00 for the local economy while Ł10.00 spent at a supermarket will generate just Ł14.00 for the local economy. If every consumer switched just one per cent of their spending to local goods it would generate Ł52 million for the local economy annually(1).
- A farmers market can generate 30% more for local business (2).
- Local food systems and eco-farms provide more secure livelihood for farmer and workers - and generate new jobs. A survey of 70 small food producers in the South-West found 38 per cent had created new jobs in the previous year (3).
- Selling direct to the consumer means that the producer receives 80 to 90 per cent of the food pound, as opposed to 8 to 10 per cent received through the conventional marketing system (4).
- Local food markets mean relative security and fairer prices when compared to that offered by supermarkets. There is evidence from the University of the West of England (MacGillivray, 2001) showing prices of organic vegetables were 33 per cent lower at farmers markets than supermarkets.
2.2. Environmental
- Local food travels shorter distances and creates less pollution. Moving food around Britain results in over 3.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions; in 1995 nearly 25 per cent of all emissions in the UK were from the food transport system (5). This has increased significantly.
- Local food encourages diversity; for example farmers plant apple trees that crop over four-months rather than a commercial grower supplying a supermarket with one variety.
- Reduced primary, secondary and transport packaging.
2.3. Health and community
- Local, organic school food schemes have doubled the school meal uptake(7).
- Local food is less processed and better nutritionally.
- Local food schemes overcome distancing effects. They are a direct link between producer and consumer and they foster participation in sustainable and community development.
- Better traceability of foods.
- Food security is maximised as dependency on fossil fuel, food imports and vulnerable lond distance transportation is avoided.
- Consumer awareness/education about seasonality and availability of produce.
- Schemes that involve physical work improve fitness and well-being and reduce heart disease.
3. Develop a Local Food Action Plan
3.1. Morgan and Morley (2002) in “Relocalising the food chain:the role of creative public procurement” sets out stages for a Local Food Action Plan. These include: improving the regulatory framework, educating the public and stimulating demand, developing the supply of local food and facilitating healthy choices. The report by Green MEP Caroline Lucas and Andy Jones: 'Local Food - Benefits and Opportunities' builds on this. Their ideas and others are included in the following sections.
3.2. The action plan should be supported by Central, Regional and Local Government.
3.3. Gloucestershire Food Vision:
3.3.1. In the absence of a clear lead from Central Governments, Gloucestershire is in the process of developing their own 15-20 year Food Vision. This came about from a call from food agencies around the county wanting to work closer together to put the needs of Gloucestershire residents first in their decision-making.
3.3.2. Their approach hopes to take in many aspects relating to food. Health, social and economic issues for the first time ever will be dealt with in one policy document. They are hoping it will lead to a county that can be amongst the healthiest in Europe as well as improving the efficiency of organisations involved in food and clarity of information for consumers.
3.3.3. The current Vision Working Group involves Government Office for the South West, Gloucestershire First and Gloucestershire County Council and will go before a Gloucestershire Strategic Partnership meeting in April. The Vision is already written into Gloucestershire's Rural Economic Strategy and will aim to give everyone access to healthy, safe and affordable food. It also hopes to drive down the levels of food and lifestyle related diseases and raise the profile of food related careers.
3.3.4.Consultation will begin with the public and other stakeholders later in the spring (7).
4. Action plan for local authorities:
4.1. Get strategic
4.1.1. Draw up a "maximise local" plan with a range of creative "look to the local" schemes to rejuvenate the local economy and make healthy, local food the norm (see below).
4.1.2. Conduct comprehensive local retail audits, to assess the health of the local economy (8).
4.1.3.Conduct supermarket impact assessments.
4.2. Don't let the supermarkets expand their roles
4.2.1 Reject all supermarket planning applications, including expansions to existing sites, that threaten independent shops and services. Use PPS6 planning guidelines - "encouraging a wide range of services in a good environment, accessible to all" - to promote local and independent shops (9).
4.2.2. Use local retail audits as a tool against unsuitable supermarket planning applications (10).
4.2.3. Refuse to accept financial "sweeteners" from large companies, in return for planning permission (11).
4.3. Support locally grown
4.3.1. Fund and promote farmer's markets (12). Stroud Farmer's Market has proved a huge success and there are now 20 other markets around the County (13). They sell only produce from within a certain distance from the market.
4.3.2. Promote organic box schemes.
4.3.3. Encourage local allotments, growing your own and community gardens schemes.
4.3.4. Support schemes like Community Supported Agriculture projects (14). Popularity of these is growing, by 2002 in North America there are over 1400 schemes and in the UK about 100. Stroud's own CSA is growing and already has a waiting list for new members.
4.3.5. Consumer co-ops; informal or formal groups who purshase food collectively, enabling benefit from cost savings and/or food quality. Many operate distribution schemes to disatvantaged groups.
4.3.6. Producer co-ops; farmers come together to supply and market their produce. Collective bargaining can often bring a better price for their produce.
4.3.7. Local shops often stock local food.
4.3.8. Farm shops and â€pick your own†provide one of the most direct links between consumers and producers. Farm shops can buy a certain proportion of goods on sale from outside the farm. This proportion is regulated by trading standards.
4.3.9. Support opportunities to promote local food eg 'The Totally Tomato Show' at West Dean with over 100 varities of tomato, Apple Days, Garlic Festivals, Cooking demonstrations etc
4.4. Support locally sourced
4.4.1. EU procurement rules ban local authorities from favouring food from local sources over non-local sources. However, as shown by research at Cardiff University, it is possible to work around these EU laws to procure local and organic food for hospitals and schools, including (15):
- proving that local and organic is "best value".
- putting environmental clauses in tendering contracts.
- Buying lots of little contracts, not just sourcing from one big firm.
4.4.2. The NHS, for example, provides 300 million meals a year at a cost of over ÂŁ500 million. There is the potential for a significant contribution to sustainable development through its procurement policies.
4.4.3. Schools would also benefit from local food. The UK's nutritional standards for school meals introduced in 2001 have not been a success. Junk food is still regularly served in schools. A Which? magazine survey found poor diets amongst children. In contrast schemes like at a Nottingham Primary school that focus on local sourcing have found quality of food increase at no extra cost. The number of dinners served has also increased.
4.4.4. Use the National School Fruit Scheme (NSFS) which plans that every 4, 5 and 6 year old will receive a free piece of fruit at school every day. Gloucestershire County Council have already made moves to see if that fruit can be sourced as locally as possible.
4.4.5.Hotels, restaurants and shops could also all contribute to local food procurement. The hugely successful Strattons hotel in Swaffham sources all produce and services from within a 25 miles radius.
4.4.6. Gordon Brown is currently trying to challenge those countries like Italy, France, Sweden and Denmark who currently, as he sees it, circumvent “anti-local” legislation. This is despite all the evidence is that it makes sense, economically and environmentally, for places to source the expertise and goods they need from as near to them as possible.
There may be circumstances where a local authority might want to source expertise from further afield, and that is their right. But a system which denies them the right to give greater weight to local business and keep money circulating around their local economy is a recipe for poverty and ultimately for fascism (See section 5).
4.5. Draw the customers in
3.5.1. Make High Streets attractive to shoppers through progressive transport and "built environment" schemes. See Stroud District Green Party report due out on this subject Spring 2005.
4.5.2. Resist change of use from retail where it would lead to lack of a range of basic local shops.
4.6. Educate and stimulate
4.6.1. Consumers need to be educated about the value of local food. Action in schools could include talks and studying food retailing and systems in the curriculum.
4.6.2. Directories of local food producers are already effectively produced at many levels.
4.6.3. A labelling and branding scheme to identify food products which are genuinely local eg produced within 30 miles of the point of retail.
4.6.4. Other schemes to promote local food should also be explored. In Gloucestershire, GloucestershireTourism, Gloucestershire Taste of the West and chef Robert Rees launched the 'It's about Taste' campaign to encourage businesses to buy good quality local food produced by growers who can earn a reasonable living and sustain the character of the countryside.
5000 copies of the 'Gloucestershire - It's about Taste' directory have been sent to local businesses and over 80% say they use the directory to help them find new suppliers. Regular events throughout the county are bringing producers and buyers together to sample a wide variety of ingredients (16).
5. Policy for the national and the European level
5.1. Given sufficient political will supporting a Local Food Action Plan, we could reap the benefits of a new 'local' agricultural revolution, which could see 10 per cent of all our food produced locally within five years (17). Clearly moving towards more Green policies of localisation will mean even greater increases in local food availability.
5.2. Policy suggestions include many taken from:
(i) 'Local Food - Benefits and Opportunities' by Caroline Lucas and Andy Jones.
(ii) "Stopping the Great Food Swap - relocalising Europe's food supply" (2001) by Caroline Lucas.
(iii) "Look to the Local - a better agriculture is possible" (2002) by Michael Hart of the Small and Family Farm Alliance and Colin Hines.
(iv) "Green alternatives to Globalisation. A Manifesto" (2004) by Michael Woodin and Caroline Lucas. This excellent book gives a clear argument as to why globalisation is not the best way forward, and argues a strong case for a Green alternative.
5.3. Work towards a policy of “Localisation”(18):
5.3.1. The globalisation of our food supply harms and destabilises local economies. Cheap oil, and government policies of relatively low fuel tax, mean that many commodities that used to be grown or manufactured in Britain are now imported. The further these goods travel, the heavier are the transport and environmental impacts and the more damage to local communities. As well as increasing demand for road space, causing local environmental destruction and loss of local jobs this also contributes to global environmental problems like climate change, which then impact on the economy. Climate change is costing the UK literally billions of pounds a year .
5.3.2. Achieving food security would not put an end to all trade in agricultural products. Countries would attempt to become self-sufficient in the foodstuffs best suited to their own climate, soils and farming methods, whilst relying on residual long-distance trade to supply products that cannot be produced in every region. So we will till be able to get bananas and coffee. Benefits include; meeting as many basic needs as possible, limiting transport, bringing diversity back home, rebuilding local communities and their connection with the land. Care will be needed not to undermine food security in the exporting regions; the Fair Trade Miles approach.
5.3.3. Measures include:
- Export subsidies and low farm-gate prices are two of the key areas of concern. The CAP and WTO must be reformed to discourage over-production and halt the 'great food swap' that characterises the international trade of foodstuffs that could be produced, sold and eaten locally. Radical proposals also include food-shed specific quotas and guaranteed farm-gate prices (19)
- New ethical import regulations to help protect developing-country populations against unfair or exploitative trade arrangements.
- Protecting domestic markets through import controls.
- Eco-taxation will ensure that the true costs of food are made clear - in particular fossil fuel taxes should be levied on all transport sectors including airfreight which is at present tax-free. Pesticide and fertiliser taxes will reduce pollution and encourage switch to less energy and chemically intensive farming (20). Non-recyclable packaging is another area for taxation.
- Improve animal welfare; an end to intensive factory production lines.
5.3.4. See Green Party papers for further information on how we can move towards “Localisation” rather than globalisation of our food supply: 'Stopping the Great Food Swap', 'Look to the Local' and 'Local Food: Benefits and Opportunities' (21).
5.4. Specific measures:
5.4.1. European procurement rules need to be reformed to ensure that public bodies are allowed (and actually encouraged) to buy food, goods and services locally wherever possible.
5.4.2. The government needs to strengthen the powers of local authorities so that they include:
- can easily refuse planning permission to supermarkets and chain stores and restaurants where they would significantly harm the local economy, or create a local monopoly (22);
- can levy charges on private parking in retail developments;
- require supermarkets to source goods and services locally as far as possible as a condition of planning permission;
- require provision of affordable premises for small shops and businesses and allow authorities to reduce business rates to help sustain a range of basic local shops;
- have greater powers over changes of use of premises to retain a range of basic local shops.
- cities and large towns to adopt policy requiring basic facilities (food shops, bank and post office) to be provided within 15 minutes walk of home. All local authorities to promote local delivery services including bank facilities and Post Offices.
5.4.3. Reform of the monopoly regulation to break the stranglehold of the supermarkets. Unchallenged supermarket takeovers have put consumer choice at risk: the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) last year waved through Sainsbury's takeover of 114 Jacksons stores without any investigation of the impacts.
- Friends of the Earth, the Association of Convenience Stores, FARM and the National Federation of Women's Institutes, the Green Party and others have asked OFT to open a new investigation of supermarket domination of the grocery market in the form of a full 'Market Review' (23).
- a stronger Code of Practice and a retail regulator with teeth is needed. This would include taking strong action against the particularly damaging predatory loss leading pricing practices. France, Germany, Ireland and Spain have already got legislation to prohibit the selling of goods below the price paid by the retailer to the farmer (24).
- consider George Monbiotâ€s proposal that supermarkets should be treated like any other monopoly, and broken up. Many of the bigger out-of-town stores should be closed down altogether, as the social and environmental burden they impose on Britain is simply unsustainable. Others could be sold off. But some, once wrested from the hands of the companies which built them, could house the farmers†markets now slowly returning to Britain, in which local people sell the local produce thatâ€s been all but exterminated by the superstores (25).
This might sound drastic, but the alternative is far more extreme: a future without small shops, without diversity and without consumer choice. Prices, in a Britain controlled exclusively by superstores, might not rise, but all of us, by subtle means, would find ourselves picking up the bill.
5.4.4. Review national abbatoir capacity; unless Britain can develope a strong network of local abattoirs that are able to break the stranglehold of the supermarkets, revitalising the local food economy will remain an unfulfilled ambition.
5.4.5. Food quality:
- National food quality targets to be imposed in 5-year and 15-year plans to improve food quality.
- A new Ministry of Food to replace traditional bungling over food policy.
- Strong consumer representation on government bodies dealing with food issues.
- An immediate ban on additives in baby food.
- Reduction, and eventual elimination, of pesticide and hormone residues currently found in food.
- More funding for food- and health-related research.
- A new openness in food research, with all scientific findings on food issues to be made publicly available.
- A GM-free Britain.
6. Conclusions
6.1. The current food system is unsustainable and is getting worse.
6.1.1. It is promoted as being 'efficient' but is in fact increasingly inefficient in terms of energy use. Indeed both consumers and producers are increasingly being exploited and misled by the current system.
6.1.2. It is illogical to import food from all over the world even at times when they are readily available in the UK. This is all the more so with new techniques like cold-storage and “forced” vegetables that can extend availability of UK products further.
6.1.3. The system is insecure with farmers being forced to respond to unpredictable farm-gate prices and diversify away from farming.
6.1.4. The environmental impacts of our current food system are significant; rising CO2 emissions, congestion and the impact on the countryside of needless intensive production.
3.1.5. Many towns have become what the New Economics Foundation describes as â€Ghost towns†or â€Clone towns†where town centres are either devoid of services or have virually the same collection of High Street shops (26).
6.2. The current food system is ripe for change - local initiatives are the way forward
6.2.1. People at all levels of the food retailing system are beginning to recognise we need change.
6.2.2. The local food initiatives in this report, although small compared to the might of the global food system, are the way forward. Many are expanding rapidly and proving to be extreemly popular. They are also profitable and economically beneficial to the local community and provide guaranteed income and secure livelihood to farmers.
6.2.3. Local food systems meet the needs of consumers, providing increasing diversity and availability of many products.
6.2.4. Local food systems reduce environmental impacts significantly and provide a basis for the development of sustainable farming systems where the costs of food production are effectively internalised.
6.3. Action needed
6.3. Developing a Local Food Action Plan should be the first step to improving the current situation, but we also need more fundamental changes to the way our system operates.
7. Acknowledgements
Much of the information for this report comes from:
- "Green alternatives to Globalisation. A Manifesto" (2004) by Michael Woodin and Caroline Lucas.
- “Local Food - Benefits and Opportunities'” (2003) - Caroline Lucas MEP and Andy Jones available at: www.greenparty.org.uk/reports
- "Stopping the Great Food Swap - relocalising Europe's food supply" (2001) by Caroline Lucas.
- "Look to the Local - a better agriculture is possible" (2002) by Michael Hart of the Small and Family Farm Alliance and Colin Hines.
- “The Ecologist” magazine - September 2004
- “Not on the Label” - Felicity Lawrence ISBN0141015667
- “Shopped” - Joanna Blythman ISBN0007158033
- New Economics Foundation website: www.neweconomics.org
- Green Party of England and Wales website: www.greenparty.org.uk
- Corporate Watch website: www.corporatewatch.org.uk
- Sustain - The Alliance for Better Food and Farming website: wwwsustainweb.org
- Journalist George Monbiotâ€s website: www.monbiot.com
8. Notes
(1) The New Economic Foundation has conducted research that measures the local economy multiplier of a local Organic box scheme. This showed that Ł10 spent in a local organic box scheme in Truro (Cornwall) generated Ł25 for the local economy, compared to approximately Ł14 generated if Ł10 was spent in a local supermarket. See "Plugging the Leaks" a briefing by the New Economics Foundation at
http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/uploads/Plugging%20the%20Leaks%20News2.doc
(2) WHSmith and Debenhams in Winchester reported that during the Sunday morning farmer's market, their takings were up by 30%. Stroud has also reported big increases. See National Association of Farmer's Markets website.
http://www.farmersmarkets.net/started/benefits/default.htm
(3) 'Local food - a snapshot of the sector' March 2003
(4) See J. Pretty in 'Some Benefits and Drawbacks of Local Food Systems' 2001
(5) See Simms, A (2000) “Collision Course - free trade's ride on the global climate” New Economics Foundation.
(6) If you are interested in being consulted about the vision please email
Robert Rees at info@robrees.com or robertrees@btopenworld.com
(7) See "Plugging the Leaks" a briefing by the New Economics Foundation
(8) The catering manager at St Peter Church of England Primary School, East Bridgford, Nottinghamshire started to source her meat locally and food organically. The take up of these healthy school meals is now 80%, as opposed to the national average of 45%.
(9) "Plugging the Leaks" survey designed by the New Economic Foundation measures the amount of money each pound generates for the local economy, using the multiplier index. See "Plugging the Leaks" a briefing by the New Economics Foundation at:
http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/uploads/Plugging%20the%20Leaks%20News2.doc
(10) Resisting new supermarkets on the basis that they undermine the local economy, can be justified with reference to Planning Policy Guidance Note 6: Town Centres and Retail Development (1996) paragraph 1.16, which states that proposals for new out-of-centre superstores should be judged not only on their likely impact on the vitality of town centres, but also on the impact on the rural economy. A recent survey by the Planning Policies Research Group has found that few planning authorities are using this tool, perhaps because there is no established methodology for measuring the impact on the rural economy. Any assessment of this should include the impact on local food producers; both those that sell directly to the public through farm shops and farmers' markets, and those who rely on local shops to sell their produce
It is also possible to use assessment of environmental and heritage aspects.
See Directory for Local Campaigner: Chuckout Checkout at corporatewatch website
http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/pages/check_out_chuck_out/local_campaigns.htm
(11) Some examples: East Finchley residents and traders are fighting fiercely to save the High Road with its independent shops from destruction by a proposal for an oversized Waitrose supermarket. With about 150 parking places the supermarket would also suck trade from businesses in neighbouring Highgate and Muswell Hill. The offer of a new library has failed to win over residents who are happy with their existing one. In East Dulwich a large group of local people recently campaigned to prevent their independent shops, especially hardware and home furnishing businesses, being killed off by a proposal for a large Homebase DIY store. Campaigners insisted that the promised new football stadium and 5-aside football pitches would not make up for the damage to local shops, extra traffic and loss of green space.
See "Where have London's local shops gone?", A report from the Green Party Group on the London Assembly. Available on request
(12) Local authorities can be instrumental in setting up farmer's markets, in an almost endless variety of ways, including signposting the markets, providing parking space, helping with traffic, procuring a suitable venue, promoting, funding, helping to set up the market.
http://www.farmersmarkets.net/started/benefits/default.htm
(13) Stroud Market started in 1999 and was the first in Gloucestershire.
(14) These come in various forms eg (a) Subscription - where the farmer recruits local customers to subscribe to a scheme and are supplied with a box of seasonal produce. (b) Farmer cooperatives where several farmers supply and market their produce. Details of the CSA project in Stroud can be found at: http://www.stroudcommunityagriculture.org
(15) European procurement rules, which define local sourcing as an illegal barrier to free trade of foreign goods between member states, make it extremely difficult for Local Authorities to procure locally. However, there are a number of creative way to get around procurment laws which have been implemented by local bodies. They include:
- Proving that local and organic food represents "Best Value" (a legitimate ground for tendering). See Powy's Public Procurement Partnership's " Public Procurement" report
http://www.organic.aber.ac.uk/library/Powys%20public%20procurement%20partnership.pdf
- Creating environmental tendering grounds that favour local produce
- Including "local sourcing" provisions and clauses in agreements with larger contractors: i.e "secondhand" local sourcing. In South Gloucestershire the contract for the supply of fruit and vegetables states a clear preference for locally-grown produce. Similarly Cornwall County Councilâ€s Commercial Services have entered into a contract with local suppliers to supply local ingredients for a major catering contract serving 32 schools. Devon County Council's Devon Direct Services, in close collaboration with local farmers and processors, have recently succeeded in sourcing an “all-Devon beefburger”. The East Anglia Food Network is another example. This issue was raised by the Green Party in February 2002 with Gloucestershire County Council who are currently looking to improve the situation.
- St Peter's Church of England Primary School near Nottingham was featured on “Changing Places” BBC 11/04/03
- Buying lots of little contracts rather than sourcing all from one big firm. Advice gleaned from Local Food Network website, Soil Association officer. See "Local Food Network" http://www.localfoodworks.org/Web/SA/SAWeb.nsf/localfoodworks_info.htm?OpenPage&charset=iso-8859-1
See also Morgan, K and Morley, A “Relocalising the food chain; the role of creative public procurement” Cardiff University.
(16) For a comprehensive on-line directory of county-based food and drink producers available see: www.tastegloucestershire.co.uk
(17) It is not possible to forecast future growth for the local food sector with any certainty; in part due to the lack of available data being collected. However Caroline Lucas and Andy Jones suggest this figure is not at all unreasonable if support was given towards developing a Local food Action Plan.
(18)The party's full agriculture and food policies are contained in the 'Manifesto for a Sustainable Society' at www.greenparty.org.uk/policy.
(19) 'Look to the Local - a better agriculture is possible' (2002) by Michael Hart of the Small and Family Farm Alliance and Colin Hines.
(20) In the last decade the amount of organic food produced in Europe has gone up by five times, but British farmers lag far behind - even though we're one of the biggest markets for organic produce. Less than half of the organic food we eat is home-grown. Real Progress means encouraging Britain's food producers to meet the demand for natural food in this country. That could mean 40,000 extra jobs for our rural and farming communities.
(21) See: www.greenparty.org.uk/reports
(22) New national planning policy guidance about town centres (Planning Policy Statement 6) has alarmed Friends of the Earth and smaller retailers by its inclusion of a policy encouraging the provision of large format stores on the edge of town centres - despite strong evidence that such stores take away trade from existing town centre shops. See also point (10) above.
See:www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/call_for_new_investigation_25112004.html
(23) Recent takeovers include:November 2002: Tesco takeover of T&S, January 2004: Tesco takeover of Adminstore, February 2004: Sainsbury takeover of Bells andOctober 2004: Sainsbury acquisition of Jackson's
It is now clear that market consolidation is having damaging impacts on the local economy of communities across the UK
- Market concentration by the big four supermarkets has accelerated rapidly since the most recent investigation in 2000
- How new trends such as the huge rise of acquisitions of convenience stores by big supermarkets are reducing consumer choice
- Supermarkets have an armlock on their suppliers
Ideas on the table include a strong enforceable supplier code of practice drawn up by the suppliers themselves; a 'Local food targets act' for the UK and local seasonal produce to be supplied in supermarkets; an independent regulator for the supermarkets; and regulation on gangmasters to stop the exploitation of farm-workers and undocumented migrants.
Other good policy suggestions also need consideration like Wye Cycle's proposal for legislation stating that no individual business may be responsible for more than 1% of UK food retailing. See www.wyecycle.org
(24) Retail analysts believe introducing such measures into the UK may well help to slow down the decline of the High Street. It would particularly affect Tesco and Asda who rely on loss leaders and aggressive pricing policies to draw consumers in. One anonymous chief executive of a leading UK retailer has admitted that the legislation could cause them 'immense harm'.
(25) See: www.monbiot.com
(26) Ghost Town or Clone Town? In 2002 the New Economics Foundation (nef) published a report Ghost Town Britain, that highlighted the loss of Britainâ€s local shops and services and the emergence of ghost towns and communities with few or no services left. It showed how, over the past two decades, the construction of large out-of-town shopping centres and waves of high-street bank-branch closures have driven many people away from town-centre shopping, resulting in the loss of thousands of independent traders.
At one time it seemed by some that Stroud was set to join the list of “Ghost towns”, but it didnâ€t happen. Locally we have seen much work by groups such as Stroud Community Planning Conference, the Stroud Town Centre Partnership, Vision 21 and Stroud Town Council. They have been determined to ensure Stroud survives.
It also appears at the moment Stroud is managing to avoid the other related phenomenon; what the nef have described as “Clone Town Britain”. This is where in the place of real local shops comes a near-identical package of chain stores replicating on the nationâ€s high streets.
Gloucester was labelled a “Clone Town” in the report, after surveys showed that over 60 per cent of outlets in itâ€s main streets were chain stores, with a quarter of these being clothing. The harsh verdict claimed Gloucester was amongst those towns where the individual character was seen to be evaporating. Independent butchers, newsagents, tobacconists, pubs, book shops, greengrocers and family-owned general stores are becoming filled with fast-food chains, and global fashion outlets.
Whether or not we agree with nefâ€s analysis that Gloucester is a “Clone Town” it seems clear that the homogenisation of high streets is not something that benefits our communities nor is it an inevitable product of 'progress'. Like many other European countries we need more control over planning decisions. A cross-party coalition recently launched a Parliamentary Bill that hopes to do just that.
ENDS
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