GYS: Yorkshire food and farming unites to make strong case for political support

In one of the largest ever campaigns orchestrated by the region’s farmers and agri-food sector, 57 businesses worth a combined annual turnover of £2.5bn and with a 23,000-strong workforce, are demonstrating the powerful role they can play in determining the county’s economic fate in the uncertain years ahead.

Their Pride and Provenance campaign will be launched today at the Great Yorkshire Show in Harrogate by the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) with the help of Hull-based food supplier Cranswick Plc and the York, North Yorkshire and East Riding Local Enterprise Partnership.

The show comes at a critical time for farmers whose livelihoods rely on the rules and financial support currently afforded under the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy. Infact, there has never been a better moment for Yorkshire’s wider agri-food sector to pull together, according to the NFU’s regional director, Adam Bedford.

“At a time of economic and political uncertainty, it is more important than ever to highlight the intertwined nature of the agri-food chain and its social, economic and environmental value,” Mr Bedford said, adding: “We need to make sure that MPs understand how important our industry is, what we already contribute and how much more we could do if we get the Brexit process right.”

The NFU’s deputy president, Minette Batters, who is attending the Great Yorkshire Show for the first time, more of the region’s agri-food companies were joining its campaign “all the time”.

“We are talking about a hugely important sector for Yorkshire, but I know that locally there is the drive and enthusiasm to do even more. As a beef producer myself, I am particularly passionate about promoting what we do to the public and encouraging them to back British farming.

“Delivering some of the highest quality food in the world, local food producers should be our suppliers of choice, but to achieve that we need to shout even more about what we do. So I’m delighted to see this collaborative approach being embraced in Yorkshire.”

Industry representatives from the region held a Westminster event ahead of today’s show to win support from MPs.

Rishi Sunak, MP for Richmond, said: “Farming and farmers are the key to the rural economy in Yorkshire. If we don’t have a sustainable farming sector, we don’t have a sustainable market town economy and our countryside, which underpins the increasingly valuable tourism sector, is at risk too.”

Tory politician Mr Sunak added: “We have to demonstrate that every pound spent on Yorkshire produce is a pound that boosts the local economy on which we all depend.”

Thirsk and Malton MP, Kevin Hollinrake, who also supports the NFU-led campaign, said: “It is so important to be able to deliver a British agricultural policy that not only works for farmers and protects the landscape but which also brings new entrants into a more dynamic and productive sector of the economy.”