The tale of three farmers

This is a true to life story of three farmers I know who produce food.   I say ‘Food’ because the majority of farmers in the UK, like my family, have been pushed via subsidies to growing commodities like wheat, barley, rape and pulses. Many would lose money without the EU subsidy.

So back to food farmers: Farmer 1 produces intensive chickens sold through supermarkets. Farmer 2 produces organic fruit & veg for the local Farmers Market, and eggs for the supermarket. Farmer 3 has a farm shop and grows as much produce as he can to fill the shelves as well as source from other local farmers and producers, even the local school!

Battery chickens, photo Wikipedia

Farmer 1 has spent a great deal of money setting up massive sheds, feed systems, heating and ventilation, to produce chicken meat in the most efficient and cost effective way possible.  It only takes 1.5kg of feed to produce 1kg of meat, heating comes from burning the farm’s straw and all the manure is used on the farm as fertiliser.

The chickens only take 37 days to reach full maturity and only 3 people are required to look after 45,000 birds.  No antibiotics are used and welfare standards are the highest in the world.

Farmer 1 is making a 12% return on investment (a very good return compared to most farm enterprises) and told me he would like to give the birds more space, but has been told that customers want cheap chicken so he must maintain the current proven efficiencies.

Farmer 2 is horrified by the practices of Farmer 1 and farms organically.  He has employed 2 local people and grows a variety of fruit and veg as well as producing organic eggs from free range chickens.

He sells everything from the farm gate and local Farmers Markets, and has started selling his eggs via the local Waitrose.  He enjoys the challenge of organic production and pays himself a small salary from the farm. The rest of his income is derived from a full time job.

Farmer 3 is a veg grower located by a busy road 4 miles from a town. He used to supply local markets but most have closed as the supermarkets have increased their power. 10 years ago he had to decide whether to grow just one or two varieties of veg on a large scale and sell to a packer who then supplied the supermarket.

Or set up a farm shop and sell his produce at retail prices.  He realised that by selling through his own shop, at 10% cheaper than the supermarket, he could get 6 times more, per kg, than what a packer would pay for bulk veg.  So he took on the challenge of becoming a retailer as well as a farmer.

Local people growing fresh healthy food

Over the years he has increased staff to 8 full time and 4 part time and the shop has slowly grown as more local people have recognised that most of his produce is fresher and cheaper than the supermarket. To win future customers he has teamed up with the local school and helped them build raised beds and plant fruit trees. He hosts school visits and has a small shelf where any produce from the school is labelled and sold to raise money for the school or their chosen charity.

Farmer 3 works a 70 hour week and did not make a profit on the farm shop for 4 years.

Wow, who would want to become a farmer? No wonder the average age of farmers is 58, and over 50 a year commit suicide.

BBC Food programme

I think we need a ‘Farmer 3’ for every community. So please support your local farm shop or help your local farmer set one up. The more local people and schools you can get involved the more regular customers to make each shop viable. These shops are a community asset that puts money back in to the local economy and create jobs. Unlike your local supermarket!

To find your local farm shop and producers please type your post code in to our Local Food map here