Antony Higginbotham, Member of Parliament for Burnley and Padiham has signed an open letter calling on supermarkets to highlight British produce by incorporating a ‘Buy British’ section when shopping online.
The campaign, which is supported by over 100 MPs is asking for a simple yet powerful change citing consumer choice, environmental benefits and support for farmers as reasons to go ahead.
Speaking about his support for the campaign Antony Higginbotham MP said:
Farmers across Burnley and Padiham, and the wider Lancashire area play a huge role in keeping us fed and is why I’ve spoken up for them in Parliament on several occasions.
But one of the biggest things we can do to support them is by buying locally sourced British produce. That’s why I’m 100% behind the campaign to add a ‘Buy British’ section on supermarket websites. It’s a small change to make but a powerful one which will allow people to easily support homegrown producers.
I’ll continue to stand up for our farmers as ‘buying British’ is good for our farming communities, good for the environment and good for consumer choice. It’s a win all round.
MPs say the change could be achieved ‘by the click of a mouse’, with many shops labelling British products in stores already. A change online is simply bringing this to those who order in their weekly shop, so they better identify homegrown produce.
Minette Batters, President of the National Farmers Union, said:
We have been asking retailers to commit to signposting British produce for a number of years, so it’s great to see MPs and their constituents getting behind the idea of a ‘Buy British tab’ online.
We know from our own independent survey that 86% of the public want to buy more British food, but it is often tricky to determine what products are produced in the UK and this simple change would help the shoppers do that.
