Agriculture/ What's Wrong with Supermarkets?
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What's Wrong
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Contents
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A spoonful of
organo-phosphates… Dangerous chemical usage in food and
farming Many pesticides are persistent organic pollutants (POPs) which means that they persist in the environment and are not broken down, so new crops absorb them from polluted soil. There are numerous incidences of farm-workers and others being poisoned by pesticides. There is also evidence of corporate irresponsibility in the manufacture and labelling of pesticides.39 Environmental groups believe that supermarkets should do more to reduce pesticide use. The codes of practice they set up with farmers should aim for a significant reduction in pesticide use and zero residues of pesticides in food. Friends of the Earth in March 2004 found that whilst Marks and Spencer and the Co-op were on the right track banning 50-60 pesticides from their suppliers globally, and aiming for zero residues, others were seriously failing on this issue. In particular, Morrisons failed to reply to FoE's survey and have no stated policy on the issue.40 Organo-chlorine pesticides are POPs, bio-accumulative and toxic. They include DDT, Lindane, Aldrin, Dieldrin and Hexachlorobenzene. DDT was banned in the USA in the late 1960's, when it was found to be causing the extinction of several species including the bald eagle, and found to affect the liver, reproductive and nervous systems. It is still widely used in the global South. Research found organo-chlorine traces in a quarter of all salmon samples sold in supermarkets in the UK in 2001. Lindane is
the last organo-chlorine to be used widely in Europe,
although its licence was revoked in December 2001. It is,
however, used extensively in the global South, especially on
cocoa. The European diet may well exceed the recommended FAO/WHO dosage
by twelve times. It is harmful to those who use it and those who are
exposed to it in the environment and in their food. It has been linked
to breast cancer and may also be hormone disrupting.
See Pesticide Action Network (UK) for more information. Organo-phosphate (OP) pesticides are insecticides. They are used both on crops and in animal health, especially sheep dips. They were used as nerve gases during WW2 and have been linked with chronic ill- health amongst sheep-farmers in the UK as, from the 1970's until 1992, it was obligatory to dip sheep in OP. They are especially risky for babies and small children who have a low 'Acceptable Daily Intake' (ADI) of OP pesticides. Many of the more toxic OP pesticides are banned. Chlorfenvinphos is to have its license revoked in Britain. Methyl Bromide is a suspected ozone depletor, it is toxic and dangerous to wildlife and will hopefully be phased out in response to the Montreal Protocol, the global environmental agreement to phase out ozone depleting chemicals. Glyphosate/Glufosinate Ammonium are broad spectrum herbicides used widely, and also on GM crops. Glyphosate is widely considered to be safer than other pesticides on the market, but there is evidence of toxic effects on humans, environmental toxicity and resistance in some target weed species. It is therefore untrue that it is totally safe and environmentally friendly, as some agrochemical companies have claimed. Studies show that glufosinate ammonium causes adverse health effects in animals. It is also likely to leach into drinking water sources, could increase nitrate leaching, and is toxic to beneficial soil micro-organisms. It is currently banned on winter-sown crops in the UK due to the danger of run-off into water courses. Equally worrying are hormone-disrupting chemicals which bio-accumulate within the body. One commonly used in food packaging to line food cans and lids is bisphenol A.
"Supermarkets are a
dagger in the guts of civilisation…Shoplifting is a badly needed
re-allocation of resources. I don't regard it as stealing." Supermarkets
have become all powerful by putting smaller retailers out of
business. In their Ghost Town Britain reports (2003),
the New Economics Foundation (NEF) revealed that between 1995 and 2000
we lost roughly one fifth of our local shops and services including
post-offices, banks, butchers and grocers. Furthermore, over the five
yeats to 2002, around 50 specialist stores closed every week.41 In 1960,
small independent retailers had a 60% share of the food retail market.
By 2000, their share was reduced to 6% while the multiples share
increased to 88%.42 With our
high streets disappearing and our town centres shrinking, we are losing
a focal point for community life and a place for meaningful interaction
between people of different classes, cultures, ages and lifestyles.
According to Caroline Lucas MEP,43
half the nation now shops in 1000 giant superstores. Most
obviously independent food stores close because the
'under-one-roof' format of the superstore seems to offer
more choice and makes shopping 'more convenient', as does
free car-parking or free buses. Many have also mimicked the idea of
independent deli-style food counters with expert salespeople. This,
however, can no way replicate the sense of community created by
the high street, nor the level, range and quality of employment.
Supermarkets have a totally different atmosphere to your local store.
People push their trolleys up the endless anonymous aisles in a trance,
and then queue impatiently at the checkout: its hardly a conducive
environment to make a meaningful connection with your neighbours or the
harried checkout operator. Beep Beep Beep A job in an
independent store is qualitatively different to one in a supermarket.
At the major supermarkets you may be a 'colleague' or an 'associate'
but you have to conform to the corporate 'house-style' - dress
and behaviour codes as dictated from HQ. Despite 'employee of the
month' schemes etc, the corporation is not interested in you as an
individual but as a money making machine. Superstores are designed so that the individual employee can shift the maximum number of products per customer visit. Asda has the highest level of sales per employee, at £104,490pa. This is compared to Tesco - £91,591, Sainsbury - £85,986 and Safeway - £94,897.44 There are a
number of reports published illustrating the effect
of supermarkets on local jobs. These are discussed in the
Competition Commission report (2000). Whilst some claim that
the number of jobs increases, the British Retail Planning
Forum (1998), embarrassingly financed by the supermarkets themselves,
discovered that every time a large supermarket opens, on average, 276
jobs are lost. It found
that there is 'strong evidence that new out-of-centre
superstores have a negative net impact on retail employment
up to 15km away'.45 Money spent in a supermarket is spirited away to shareholders and management staff, rather than staying in the community where it has been spent, supporting local businesses and their suppliers.
With no
strong attachment to place, the supermarkets can easily use
job cuts as a safety net for ensuring profits - unskilled
labour is fairly dispensable. Whilst both Sainsbury and Asda
have claimed that they will create 10,000 jobs each during
2002, supermarkets also close unprofitable stores to protect profits. 47
Below cost selling on the High Street Only serious measures to clamp down on persistent below-cost selling or 'loss leaders' can halt this. France, Germany, Ireland and Spain already have legislation to prohibit the selling of goods below the price paid by the retailer to the farmer. In 2000, Wal-Mart was found guilty of breaking German law by selling a range of grocery items at below their cost price. The world's largest retailer was ordered to halt the practice immediately, or face a fine of up to DM1 million (£308,000). Retail analysts believe introducing such measures into the UK may well help to slow down the decline of the High Street. It would particularly affect Tesco and Asda who rely on loss leaders and aggressive pricing policies to draw consumers in. One anonymous chief executive of a leading UK retailer has admitted that the legislation could cause them 'immense harm'. Apples from Africa, pears from Peru - Food miles and climate change Despite 'locally-produced food' being the latest supermarket buzzwords, finding local food in supermarkets is unusual. Even if it is labeled 'local', it still likely to have traveled the length and breadth of the country before reaching the nearest supermarket to the place where it was produced. This is because supermarkets are designed with centralised distribution in mind and stores simply do not have the infrastructure to purchase and sell locally. Industrially produced food covers an excessive number of miles before it reaches the shelves.
Supermarket cheap food policies disadvantage local producers because they cannot compete with produce from countries where land or labour costs less. Long distance transportation of food also produces vast amounts of pollution, excess packaging and use of chemical preservatives, uses up large amounts of non-renewable fossil fuels (aviation fuel and diesel) and thus contributes significantly (and needlessly) to climate change.50 There are huge animal welfare and disease control implications from the live transportation of animals. The Trans-European Network (TEN) is a massive road and rail infrastructure project subsidised by the EU that essentially facilitates the export of cheap food and manufactured items from Eastern Europe. The UK Government also encourages food miles. Artificially low fuel costs, especially tax-free aviation fuel, mean we are importing food we could easily grow ourselves. According to DEFRA figures, the UK is 62.5% self-sufficient in all food (down from 75% in 1991).51 UK air freight (imports and exports) is growing by about 7% a year and is expected to increase at a rate of 7.5% a year to 2010.52 Long distance transportation of food leads to the crazy situation where in 1997, 126 million litres of liquid milk was imported into the UK at the same time as 270 million litres was exported out of the UK.53 Furthermore,
the closure of small abattoirs as a result of the UK
government's over-stringent interpretation of international
health and safety regulations has encouraged long journeys
for live animals. Whilst this has indeed improved conditions in
abattoirs, it has made the cost for independent operators of
replacing them locally, financially prohibitive. Journeys of
200-400 miles to slaughter are not unusual for animals
today; the average journey from farm to abattoir has been
estimated at 100 miles.54
Supermarkets regularly make a
premium selling 'Scotch beef' and 'Welsh lamb' despite the fact that
they may have only been transported across the country and
pastured in Scotland or Wales for just two weeks.55 This is the
reason why, despite a recent Friends of the Earth survey revealling
that
84% of consumers want to buy UK fresh produce in season, the
supermarkets are not delivering.56
Another Friends of the Earth survey
found that at the height of the UK apple season under half of the
apples on offer in the big four supermarkets were home-grown.57 Whatever concerns supermarkets say they have over 'food miles' and climate change can surely be discounted when Sainsbury and now Tesco offer British Airway's Air Miles as part of their loyalty scheme.58
All food
sold in supermarkets is transported, by suppliers or
supermarket trucks, to regional distribution centres (RDCs)
around the country before being distributed back to
supermarkets. Sainsbury, for example, has only 12 depots for
chilled goods. Supermarkets work on the principle of 'Just In Time'
delivery with products rushed to superstores as and when they are
needed. As storage
is expensive, the supermarkets persuade farms and
manufacturers to store produce on their behalf leading to
refrigerated juggernauts visiting farms daily collecting
just a few pallets of produce. These trucks thus become 'warehouses on
wheels'. Supermarkets claim that a more centralised
system means more efficient transportation, with fewer
lorries delivering to supermarkets. However, this does not
acknowledge that lorries carrying produce from farms must
travel further to the RDCs. Supermarkets are also
increasingly telling farmers to deliver the goods themselves to the
RDCs. Passing yet another cost onto the suppliers. According to the
'Eating Oil' report, the food system accounts for up to 40% of all UK
road freight. Like many
retailers and processors, all the major corporate agri-businesses and
supermarkets continue to use refrigeration machinery and coolant
materials, which use massive volumes of CFC and now HFC chemicals.
These are both potent ozone depletors. Refrigeration systems also use
vast amounts of electricity and therefore contribute to the
burning of fossil fuels and global warming. As well as
being environmentally unsustainable, our reliance on fossil fuels make
the UK vulnerable to food and fuel crises.
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