Hampshire MEP Backs CPRE Campaign To Boost Local Foods And Rural Life

9.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 22nd Sep 2003

Hampshire MEP Chris Huhne today backed the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) in its plan to encourage the growing and eating of local foods.

Mr Huhne was speaking at a CPRE meeting organised at the Liberal Democrat Brighton conference and said that we did far too little in Britain to celebrate fresh local foods by comparison with France or Italy.

'Fresh produce commands a premium because it tastes better, and is the key to better eating' said Mr Huhne. 'I wholeheartedly back the CPRE in its efforts to encourage the supermarkets to stock more local produce. This would support British farmers, provide more choice for consumers and improve the freshness and nutritional value of our food'.

'I welcome the increased efforts of the supermarkets to stock local produce as it is a key part to the survival of rural life and of the patterns of our countryside, but much more needs to be done.

'The future for British farming cannot be as a mass producer of basic commodities because there will always be other parts of the world - the United States mid-west prairies and the Argentinean pampas - that can beat us at that game. The future has to lie in quality, freshness and local production, including of course organic production' Mr Huhne said.

'A vibrant farm community is a crucial part of rural life, and I welcome the shift in Common Agricultural Policy subsidies away from the production-related support prices that have encouraged bog standard output and towards support for farmers when they act as stewards of the countryside.

'There is a cost to the maintenance of ancient field patterns and verdant hedgerows, and it is quite right that farmers should receive support for the efforts the make to tend for the environment that so many others enjoy'.

Mr Huhne noted that several supermarkets, notably Tesco, had begun to encourage local produce and asked for clear definitions of local foods - for example, produced within 30 miles of the point of sale - together with more promotion for them.

Mr Huhne said that a vibrant farming community was also crucial to rural life because so many other businesses depended on its success. But it was also essential to encourage rural businesses that could make the countryside less dependent on one industry.

'With the growth of farm bed and breakfasts, tourism is a well-known alternative and supplement to farm incomes. However, the introduction of broadband internet access will open up enormous opportunities for rural business where marketing of cottage industry products can be revolutionised.

'With internet access speeds of ten times conventional connections, broadband in villages is the key factor that will encourage many micro-businesses to operate from rural areas where quality of life is such an important factor' said Mr Huhne.

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