Riverford demands an end to supermarket ‘farmwashing’

Organic veg box company Riverford, led by founder and farmer Guy Singh-Watson, has teamed up with a group of British farmers, including conservationist and TV presenter Jimmy Doherty, calling for transparency in supermarket sourcing and fair support for Britain’s farmers.

The campaign reveals how major supermarkets use fake farm brands and the overuse of the Union Jack to give shoppers the impression that their products come from quaint British family farms. However, much of the food is increasingly sourced from industrial US-style, mega farms or from overseas, and is masking a harsh reality - the decline of Britain’s family farms.

Together with Sustain, campaigners are calling on shoppers to write to their MP to protect British farmers by demanding tougher regulations for supermarkets.

Riverford research found that two thirds (60%) of shoppers actively look for the Union Jack on products to support British farmers. When shoppers were shown a photo of produce in a UK supermarket under a Union Jack flag, more than two thirds (68%) expected more than half of it to come from a British farm, but in fact, none of it did.

Research by Riverford also found that:

• Despite supermarket claims to support British farmers, 61% are likely to give up their farms in the next 18 months
• Only 1 in 4 (24%) farmers think that supermarket claims to support British farmers are credible and backed up by their buying behaviour
• 67% of shoppers felt distrustful and annoyed when they learned that the word ‘farm’ can be used by supermarkets without it being from a real farm
• 74% of shoppers demand transparency from supermarkets about the origins of their food

The campaign features a docuseries, which sheds light on the practice of "farmwashing", and is supported by an open letter addressed to the CEOs of the ‘Big Six’ supermarkets, calling for an end to the practice of farmwashing and asking supermarkets to honour their promises of supporting British farmers with better buying practices, especially the smaller-scale family farms who are struggling to survive.

The open letter has been signed by over 80 leading figures and counting, including Cat Smith MP, Jimmy Doherty, Rick Stein, William Chase, Ben Goldsmith, David Chadwick MP and Ben Lake MP as well as industry bodies such as Sustain, FFCC and Soil Association.
 

Will White, Sustainable Farming Campaign Coordinator at Sustain said:

"Big retailers often portray themselves as champions of small family farms, yet their practices are driving these farmers to the brink. Unless we strengthen the Groceries Code Adjudicator - the body responsible for regulating supermarkets - small, agroecological family farms will soon become nothing more than marketing images, while our food increasingly comes from environmentally harmful megafarms."

Guy Singh-Watson, founder of Riverford Organic, said: 

"British farming is at a breaking point. The public cares deeply about where their food comes from, the supermarkets know this and they are using that trust to steal farmer stories and to hoodwink shoppers into thinking they are buying from those small-scale, traditional British farms. Yet the reality is that these farms are being pushed to the brink. Is this the future we want for our food system and our countryside?"

More information about the “Farmers against Farmwashing” campaign can be found at stopfarmwashing.co.uk.