However, as my hero Bob Dylan once
said: “Times they are a changing”. Not only have the clean story
lines gone from Emmerdale, but houses are no longer affordable and
dairy farmers no longer receive a fair price form their produce.
In the opening weeks of March we
have seen the Fair Trade Foundation launch its Fair Trade
Fortnight. An annual event designed to promote the principles of
fair trade.
In the years following its launch,
the fair trade brand has had a major impact on the way we shop.
More and more products have entered our supermarket shelves as
their demand has increased. We have seen shops opened dedicated
to it, and schools demanding vending machines that provide it.
A lot of this can be attributed to
the work of charities, such as Oxfam and Christian Aid, who have
placed the concept in the public domain. Tribute if it was ever
needed to the strength of good campaigning.
As someone who has spent many
years my self campaigning on the principles of fair trade, this is
very welcome. Though there is a great deal that still needs to be
done, the battle to win hearts and minds is definitely being won.
The Fair Trade brand was
established to help farmers in the developing world receive a fair
deal on their produce. However, I can’t help thinking that its
principles are relevant to the Welsh dairy farming industry.
Over the last year I have been
campaigning on this issue in Wales.
I have put questions to the First
Minister Rhodri Morgan, laid down statements of opinion in the
Assembly and written to all the major super markets seeking their
support.
The results have been positive.
The First Minister agreed to examine the idea further, my fellow
AMs gave their support and the supermarkets were not cold to the
idea either.
However, opposition does exist.
After all, aren’t these just rich farmers looking for more money?
Not at all!
Though no one can deny that the
Common Agricultural Policy subsidy system needs reforming to make
payments fairer, Welsh dairy farmers are still experiencing a very
rum deal.
When I discuss this, people who
hold this opinion, tend change their minds. Why is this?
Is it because of figures that show
Supermarket profits on liquid milk have risen from 3% in 1995 to
28% today?
Is it because dairy Farmers share
of the retail price on milk has fallen from 58% to 39%?
Perhaps it is because a third of
the price consumers’ pay for milk is being lost between the farm
and the Supermarket.
It’s a sad fact that Welsh Milk is
amongst the best in the world, yet its producers are not receiving
the payments they deserve.
Many are leaving the industry all
together, examining better ways to make their living. Others
however, are holding on – hoping that times will change.
Whichever way you look at it Welsh
Dairy Farmers have had a rough deal in recent years. The industry
is in crisis.
We need to see some action. We
need something to tell the world that many of the injustices that
exist in the third world can exist closer to home. Specifically
we need to see a fair trade style brand of Welsh milk.
I would like to see the unions
could get together with individual farmers, charities and
supermarkets to establish an organisation similar to the Fair
Trade Foundation. This ‘Fair Welsh Farms’ body could establish
its own brand name. We could end up seeing ‘Fair Deal’ Welsh milk
on our shelves in no time at all!
The opportunity to improve Welsh
dairy farming is there. It is up to politicians, unions and
individual farmers to get together and make ‘Fair Deal’ a
reality.
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