Prince Charles criticizes supermarkets for squeezing farmers

[Boomerproud]

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/prince-charles-tilts-supermarkets-making-paupers-farmers-2D11585034

[elleng]

1. 'He wrote an impassioned editorial

about Britain's struggling farming industry, which he said was facing some of its "toughest challenges."

"Small farmers find themselves in the iniquitous position of taking the biggest risk, often acting as the buffer for the retailer and consumer against all the economic uncertainties of producing food, but receiving the least return," the prince of Wales wrote.

"It cannot be right that a typical hill farmer earns just £12,600 ($20,133) with some surviving on as little as £8,000 ($12,783) a year, whilst the big retailers and their shareholders do so much better out of the deal, having taken none of the risk."

Britain's food retail is dominated by the four big players - Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons. The British Retail Consortium, which represents these supermarkets, said retailers were confident their investment in the food chain meant a strong future for farmers, and that a "high proportion" of supermarket food would continue to be sourced at home.'