Buy British to save farmers during cost of living crisis, leader begs, as inflation rockets

Lucinda Douglas, the regional director of the Country and Land Business Association (CLA) said charities supporting farmers had seen an uptick in calls with mental health concerns as the crisis begins to grip.

With inflation levels continuing to rise, supermarket chain Sainsbury' said it will pump £65 million into its pricing next month amid ratcheting pressure on customers' budgets.

The price of food rose at its fastest rate since 2008 in August as pressure from the war in Ukraine continued to push up costs, figures show.

Shop price annual inflation surged to 5.1 per cent, up from 4.4 per cent in July, marking a new record since the British Retail Consortium (BRC) index started in 2005.

But according to Ms Douglas, consumers who cut down on buying British produce over the winter could harm farms for good.

She said: “We have to ask ourselves - do we want to be a country that keeps producing food to a really good and safe standard?

“Right now we’re in a perfect storm and it’s essential to support British farmers - once they’re gone, they’re gone.

“The financial requirements to start a farm are enormous. Making a short term decision to buy less will have long term implications.

“It’s essential to still buy British, you could look at cheaper cuts of meat or buying frozen to save.

“I think people have undervalued food. I know everyone has pressures right now but I would stress it couldn’t be more important to support and purchase British food. If we don’t do it now, it’s gone.

“We’re facing a serious challenge where people will need to prioritise where they spend their money.”

Asking for further support from the new Prime Minister, Ms Douglas said: “This is happening. Farmers aren’t looking for handouts. We want to stand on our own feet and continue to feed the nation. But we’re going to start seeing farmers go bust.

“We’re so passionate and proud to be farmers, but we need leaders to help with our resilience.”

Last week The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said sales values slid by 10 per cent at small firms in July compared with the previous month, representing the heaviest fall since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in April 2020.

Earlier this year research by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board found that consumers are likely to buy less meat as a direct result of the cost of living crisis.

Sales of lamb have already dropped by 12 per cent compared to pre-pandemic levels.

According to the NFU, survey of dairy farmers shows that seven per cent of producers believe they are likely to stop producing milk by 2024, which nationally could mean 840 producers leaving the industry.

Over the next two years, dairy farmers were most concerned about prices of feed (93 per cent), fuel (91 per cent), energy (89 per cent) and fertiliser (88 per cent).