Local Tory Toff MP Richard Benyon fails to support our farmers

Something I've just signed up for... The Chicken Out Campaign

Adrian Hollister said,

"We all want to be reassured that the what we are buying is what we get. The labelling on some foods cheats you into thinking you are buying something else. Supermarkets are often accused of using pictures of fields on meat products when in reality these animals have spend their life in cages or barns.

"I believe that all meat, including imported meat, should be labelled as to farming method and stock density. This should equally apply to meat and meat-derived products including milk and eggs.

"At the beginning of the year there was a Parliamentary early day motion (EDM581) to start to address this issue - good labelling would have been mandatory and it would have applied to UK and foreign products. We all know how difficult it is to compete with foreign meats especially as they generally have different (and often lower) standards of welfare and tracking. This parliamentary motion makes complete sense: we get to understand where our food comes from; it sets a level playing field with other countries; and confidence is gained by the public in what they are buying.

"So why did our local Tory MP Richard Benyon not bother to support this motion?

"His clear lack of concern for our local farmers and farming methods is shocking. In West Berkshire we have some of the best examples of farming - exemplars for the rest of the country - but he is happy to let our local farmers fight unfair battles with foreign competition. I'm willing to bet that if this labelling standard came into force the supermarkets would be inclined to pay more to our local farmers whose better animal welfare standards would appear on the label of their products.

"I call for Richard Benyon to whole heartedly back this motion it's aims and objectives and do his up most to extent the motion to all meat produce."