BRITAIN’S FOOD

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 21980, 26 March 1946, Page 5

BRITAIN’S FOOD

FARMERS’ WARNING PRICE SUBSIDIES CHEAP SUPPLY ENDED HIGHER CHARGES LIKELY (11.30 a.m.) LONDON, March 25. A call to the council of the National Farmers’ Union to warn Britain that the era of food sold to the British markets at less than the cost of production was over, was made by Mr. James Turner, its president. "There has,” he said, "obviously been confusion about the real significance of the sum of approximately £16,000,000 involved in the February price adjustments. The overwhelming part of this total is accounted for by wage and other costs which, it is known, would be borne by the industry during the period under the review. The small balance will do no more than reduce slightly the further large decline in the net revenue of the industry, following the heavy fall which lias occurred in the last two years. Most Serious Problem “With this decline in agriculture's revenue and an increase in its costs, with millions of pounds being paid out by the Exchequer to peg retail prices of food supplied from all parts of the world, with a totally inadequate labour force and the appalling state of rural housing, with the certainty of famine abroad and the consequences of prewar neglect of agriculture at home, with every nation turning more and more for its well-being to proper cultivation of the soil, Britain is confronted with a problem more serious than she seems to realise. “Wearing the blinkers of artificial prices, the consumers of this nation are blind to the actual cost of their food. For too long workers in urban industries have had their earnings subsidised by the cheapness of their food and the labour of the workers who helped to produce it. That travesty is now gilded by Government responsibility in the matter and what was formerly drained from world agriculture is now being demanded of our own taxpayers in order that this country can preserve at least the illusion of cheap food. Alternative for Nation

"I feel that this council should warn the country. The nation is no longer in a position to obtain such terms and, if agriculture is to plan its course so that the world shall be well fed for all time, the country should understand clearly just what the alternatives are. To agriculture they are obvious: either food is bought by the people as they buy any other commodity—at a price that will yield a reasonable margin over costs of production—or we will continue with artificial prices made possible only by the taxpayer subsidising the consumer.”