Today (Wednesday) is Back British Farming Day, which celebrates Britain’s food and farming sector and encourages the buying of local produce.
Marking the occasion, Welsh Conservative and Shadow Rural Affairs Minister Samuel Kurtz MS said:
“It’s always a pleasure to celebrate farmers, whether they’re from Flintshire or Fife, Dorset or County Down, and I know that spreading the message of making sure we buy local is vital to keeping communities alive, diets healthy, and people employed.
“Agriculture is the backbone of the Welsh economy and a deep well for jobs: from the farm through the supply chain to the butcher and supermarket worker, it’s important we realise there is a duty on us all to support each other by buying local, Welsh, or British.
“However, there is a role for government to support our farms because farming needs a friend right now. The sector has come under sustained and undue attack from the extremer end of environmentalism when farmers are already the custodians of the land.
“When I speak to people in agriculture, they always stress that they want to be heard and helped. They are not the problem but the solution when it comes to pollution and climate change. So, let’s today ensure that farmers are treated as assets in this battle rather than a hindrance.”