Potato growers deserve better

POTATO GROWERS DESERVE BETTER
McCain Creating Race to the Bottom for Farmers

The Tasmanian Greens today said that vegetable processor McCain had abandoned Tasmanian potato growers by forcing them into a race to the bottom through individual contract negotiations.

Greens Primary Industry spokesperson Kim Booth MP said that the situation highlighted the dangers of forcing farmers into a commodity trap in which their livelihood depended on an undifferentiated product with wafer-thin margins, or worse.

“Farmers have the right to make a decent living from growing crops, and they should not be forced into a situation where they have to undercut each other in a race to the bottom,” Mr Booth said.

“For McCain to be forcing individual contract bargaining on farmers is only adding insult to the injury already inflicted by the market.”

“If it’s true, as McCain claims, that cheaper potatoes are flooding the market, it only highlights what the Greens have long said about the risks associated with over-reliance on undifferentiated commodities.”

“One of the current problems for Tasmanian agriculture is that our produce is often undifferentiated, its identity lost amid all the other generic produce on supermarket shelves from countries where production costs are lower.”

“The Greens believe that part of the answer is to market our produce with a clean, green and GE-free brand to ensure that we can access niche markets that value our potatoes for where they are grown, not because they are 5 cents cheaper than other potatoes.”

“The Greens have a policy in place which would create a dedicated ‘Market Pathways Support Unit’, within the Department of Primary Industries that would help reduce rural or primary industry reliance upon a handful of major companies.”

“Local farmers markets, like the one started this year in Launceston, are an example of an alternative where growers can sell direct to people in the community that want to know where their food is grown and support community members that grow it.”

“There also needs to be branding support and paddock-to-plate certification for Tasmania’s wonderful food producers.”