West Dorset MP Chris Loder spoke strongly in support of farmers in a Westminster Hall debate this morning.
Chris confronted the fact that numerous vegan, animal welfare, and environmental lobbies have sought repeatedly to accuse our farmers of being bad for the environment and uncaring about animal welfare, despite this being completely untrue.
It makes no sense to say eating local produce from just around the corner is worse for the environment than eating avocados that have been flown 5,000 miles from Mexico.
Chris also exposed the predatory behaviour from supermarkets who continually give farmers a bad deal for the sake of their won profit margins. He sought to quash the nonsense from opposition parties who say the Government has lowered import standards, highlighting that hormone-injected beef and chlorinated chicken is not, and will not be, allowed for importation into the UK.
Chris specifically praised the entrepreneurship and environmental stewardship seen at Hollis Mead Organic Dairy in West Dorset, a dairy which not only cares for their dairy herd to the highest possible standards but also takes every step to look after the local environment, planning 17km of hedges over the past 20 years and digging ponds for the wildlife.
After the debate, Chris said, ‘I was very glad to be able to take part in this debate this morning and hear the support for farmers from my colleagues here in Parliament. As a farmer’s son, I know how deeply farmers care about their animals and the landscape they farm, so I was pleased to be able to address some of the misinformation around agriculture that we sometimes see in the press.’
