Food prices should be raised to stop housewives throwing out so much, a hereditary peer has said.
The Countess of Mar, one of only 92 members of the House of Lords who inherited their seats, made the contentious call following revelations that Britons waste up to half of their weekly groceries.
Lady Mar - who is a specialist cheese producer and has her own breed of ‘Mar goats’ on her extensive Worcester estate - made the call despite food prices rocketing in recent years and many families being forced to turn to foodbanks.
Half of all food we buy from supermarkets goes in the bin, despite much of it being perfectly edible, according to a report published last week by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
But experts blamed the waste on
the confusion caused by sell-by dates as well as ‘buy one, get one
free’ offers that encourage overbuying. They did not blame it on low
prices.
Lady Mar, who has sat as a cross-bench peer since inheriting her father’s title in 1975, said higher prices would make people think twice.
She told the House of Lords yesterday: ‘Food in this country is too cheap. It costs the price of its production in most cases. If it gave the farmers a bit more profit, householders, housewives perhaps, who prepare food would be more careful about wasting it.’
Yet food inflation was at 3.8per cent in the three months to December last year.
Economists have warned that prices will rise further in coming months after a drought in America last year destroyed nearly half of the corn and more than a third of soya bean crops.
Russia and the Ukraine also had very bad crop yields, putting pressure on prices.
Rural Affairs minister Lord de Mauley told peers he ‘would not wish anything in the way of increases in food prices on consumers’.
He said the government was already trying to tackle waste with landfill taxes.
Lady Mar’s remarks were also panned for being wildly out of touch by Labour’s agriculture spokeswoman, Mary Creagh, who said: ‘At a time when family budgets are being squeezed by food inflation and stagnant wages, it is astonishing that the Countess of Mar wants food prices to rise.’
She added: ‘The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs figures show that we are in a nutritional recession with people on low incomes buying less food and eating less fresh fruit and vegetables than five years ago.
This year, 250,000 people will turn to food banks to help feed their families. Perhaps the Countess should visit one to get back in touch with reality.’
Liberal Democrat Lord Greaves said the report on food waste, by the showed ‘a shocking example of inefficiency within the capitalist free market we have’.
But Labour’s Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale called for a change in the ‘ridiculous use of best before’ dates instead.
He also called for an end of the ‘dominance of almost perfect-looking potatoes and apples and other forms of vegetables and fruit in our shops.’
Lord de Mauley said the
government had already published guidance for the industry on best by or
expiry dates: ‘Use by or sell by labels should only be used when the
safety of food cannot be guaranteed after that date.
Most other food should have a best before date only to indicate when the food is no longer at its best but still safe to eat.’
Lady Mar can trace her title back to the 1st Earl of Mar in 115. It is one of the oldest earldoms in Scotland.
She has been married three times and has a daughter, interior designer Lady Susan Helen of Mar, who goes by the title of the Mistress of Mar.
A Liberal Democrat spokesman said: ‘The Countess may be surprised to hear that the price of food has been rising pretty steadily for a while now.
'For most people that’s not something to celebrate. In tough times we should be making life easier for people who are feeling the squeeze, not hiking up food prices.’
The Countess of Mar, one of only 92 members of the House of Lords who inherited their seats, made the contentious call following revelations that Britons waste up to half of their weekly groceries.
Lady Mar - who is a specialist cheese producer and has her own breed of ‘Mar goats’ on her extensive Worcester estate - made the call despite food prices rocketing in recent years and many families being forced to turn to foodbanks.
Half of all food we buy from supermarkets goes in the bin, despite much of it being perfectly edible, according to a report published last week by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
Thrown away: Lady Mar, pictured in 1999, says
too much food is wasted and higher food prices would deter families from
chucking away groceries
Lady Mar, who has sat as a cross-bench peer since inheriting her father’s title in 1975, said higher prices would make people think twice.
She told the House of Lords yesterday: ‘Food in this country is too cheap. It costs the price of its production in most cases. If it gave the farmers a bit more profit, householders, housewives perhaps, who prepare food would be more careful about wasting it.’
Economists have warned that prices will rise further in coming months after a drought in America last year destroyed nearly half of the corn and more than a third of soya bean crops.
Russia and the Ukraine also had very bad crop yields, putting pressure on prices.
Rural Affairs minister Lord de Mauley told peers he ‘would not wish anything in the way of increases in food prices on consumers’.
Up to half of all food is thrown away, according to research. Much of it is perfectly edible
Lady Mar’s remarks were also panned for being wildly out of touch by Labour’s agriculture spokeswoman, Mary Creagh, who said: ‘At a time when family budgets are being squeezed by food inflation and stagnant wages, it is astonishing that the Countess of Mar wants food prices to rise.’
She added: ‘The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs figures show that we are in a nutritional recession with people on low incomes buying less food and eating less fresh fruit and vegetables than five years ago.
This year, 250,000 people will turn to food banks to help feed their families. Perhaps the Countess should visit one to get back in touch with reality.’
Liberal Democrat Lord Greaves said the report on food waste, by the showed ‘a shocking example of inefficiency within the capitalist free market we have’.
But Labour’s Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale called for a change in the ‘ridiculous use of best before’ dates instead.
He also called for an end of the ‘dominance of almost perfect-looking potatoes and apples and other forms of vegetables and fruit in our shops.’
Dumped: But a Lib Dem spokesman said the poor were already suffering from high food prices
Most other food should have a best before date only to indicate when the food is no longer at its best but still safe to eat.’
Lady Mar can trace her title back to the 1st Earl of Mar in 115. It is one of the oldest earldoms in Scotland.
She has been married three times and has a daughter, interior designer Lady Susan Helen of Mar, who goes by the title of the Mistress of Mar.
A Liberal Democrat spokesman said: ‘The Countess may be surprised to hear that the price of food has been rising pretty steadily for a while now.
'For most people that’s not something to celebrate. In tough times we should be making life easier for people who are feeling the squeeze, not hiking up food prices.’
- A Tory MP was criticised after referring to catering staff in the House of Commons as ‘servants’. Christopher Chope, MP for Christchurch in Dorset, was calling for lower prices in the dining rooms, arguing few MPs were using them. Of one lunch, he said there were ‘three servants for each person sitting down’. Labour MP Steve McCabe said the remark shows ‘how out of touch’ he is.
No comments:
Post a Comment