Montgomeryshire AM Mick Bates has welcomed the NFU Cymru celebration of Welsh food in the Senedd and highlights the importance of local food procurement which brings such benefits to our economy and environment.
Commenting, Assembly Member Mr Bates stated:
“I congratulate the NFU Cymru on a wonderful celebration of Welsh food here in the Assembly, with a fantastic display of such high quality Welsh produce. The promotion of local food is so crucial to sustaining our agricultural industry in Wales. We are lucky to enjoy such high standards and variety of produce and buying locally is not only better for our economy, but for the environment too as it cuts down on food miles – a win-win all round.
“Sadly, for too long powerful supermarkets have dominated and farmers still do not receive a fair farmgate price. The four big supermarkets have a combined 65% share of the £133bn grocery market, so it is time for them to act responsibly by sourcing more food locally and paying a fair price for this produce. Better labelling of where food has been produced, processed and packaged would also be a huge boost and enable people to genuinely buy British or Welsh if they choose.
“There has been a lot of excellent work to promote local produce, but there is still much more to be done. Nearly 80% of the land surface in Wales is devoted to agriculture and the Welsh agri-food industry is worth almost 8% of our total economy, which is a staggering amount. I welcome the NFU celebration today which is recognition of the importance of farming to our economy and communities and makes me proud to live in a country where we produce such high quality food to sustain our nation.”
