What's wrong with supermarkets?
And for dessert... what you can do about it?
There are alternatives to supermarkets that are community focused, environmentally sustainable and gathering momentum. What they need is your support.Individual /local action:
Current Legislative ideas:
www.breakingthearmlock.com
Policy recommendations:
After allowing supermarkets to come up with voluntary codes, it is clear that these do not work. Well intentioned projects such as 'Race to the Top' or the Ethical Trading Initative, which work with the supermarkets, have led to superficial changes, but are often undermined by the supermarkets themselves. We need strong government legislation to curb the power of supermarkets, to prevent the exploitation of suppliers and the destruction of small retailers and the attendant social and environmental costs. Ideas on the table include a strong enforceable supplier code of practice drawn up by the suppliers themselves; a 'Local food targets act' for the UK and local seasonal produce to be supplied in supermarkets; an independent regulator for the supermarkets 'OffTrolley' (!); and regulation on gangmasters to stop the exploitation of farm-workers and undocumented migrants. A major rethink of Competition law in relation to supermarkets is urgently needed both in the UK and European Union. The question we need to ask is 'what are the real effects of having food retailing concentrated in the hands of so few companies?'. We need to investigate more thoroughly how monopolies and oligopolies affect suppliers as well as consumers and also look at local monopolies. We could follow the example of other European countries in curbing persistent below-cost selling. It makes sense to relocalise food production and retailing. This would include building covered food markets, through We should also limit supermaket developments through a mandatory economic impact assessment to be undertaken before a supermarket is granted planning permission. There could be a cap on retailer floor space. Supermarkets could be taxed for the environmental pollution they cause, with taxation on non-recyclable packaging, excessive transportation and car-parking spaces. We should support UK farmers with high environmental and animal welfare standards against unfair trade rules, and call for agriculture to be taken out of the WTO and an end to export dumping. See www.viacampesina.org and www.iatp.org for more information. Campaign against the GATS agreement of the WTO which could ease supermarkets in their quests to open up more markets overseas against the wishes and best interests of local populations. Watch out for other good policy ideas as we are all still trying to work this out. For example, Wye Cycle's proposal for legislation stating that no individual business may be responsible for more than 1% of UK food retailing. See www.wyecycle.orgFor more information on supermarkets and industrial food production:
Further Reading
Reports and Articles
Useful Websites
The Guardian has a substantial section on the Farming Crisis, including brilliant investigative pieces by Consumer Affairs editor, Felicity Lawrence and food writer, Joanna Blythman. www.guardian.co.uk Food Industry websites such as www.grocertoday.com, www.just-food.com , www.kamcity.com George Monbiot's website www.monbiot.com has a substantial section on supermarkets and farming.Credits
Strip lights, endless queues of strangers and shelves of packets, fake smiles from bored checkout assistants - Isn't there a better way to get our food? Supermarkets wield immense power over the way we grow, buy and eat our food. They are shaping our environment, our health and the way we interact socially. These changes have gone unchallenged because consumers have been sucked into superstore lifestyles, persuaded that the opportunity to select from six different brands of cut-price oven chips at three in the morning represents choice and value. But the tide may be turning. Unease at the true cost of supermarket food is spreading among consumers, who are beginning to join forces with the farmers and workers who have always know that supermarket 'choice' is a bad deal. This booklet aims to help campaigners get to grips with the reality of supermarket domination and argues why we must start looking for alternatives. Hard copies and more information are available from: Corporate Watch 16b Cherwell Street, Oxford, OX4 1BG, England. Tel: +44 (0)1865 791391.Email: mail@corporatewatch.org.uk
www.corporatewatch.org.uk