NFU Cymru is launching an new campaign championing Welsh food and seeking the public’s support to help secure the future of food production in Wales.
The union’s Secure the Future of Welsh Food/Diogelu Dyfodol Bwyd Cymru campaign is due to kickstart the third annual Welsh Farming Week on Monday 17th June.
The initiative will encourage people across Wales to show their support for Welsh food by adding their name to the NFU Cymru online petition. The union is hoping significant numbers signing the online petition will underline to government the high level of public support for food produced here in Wales.
NFU Cymru will be raising awareness of its campaign with a series of eye-catching gate banners positioned along popular routes across the country, as well as at farm shops and other popular food destinations.
Other highlights from the week include a series of local stakeholder days (Tuesday 18th June); the return of the popular bilingual online live lessons for primary school pupils, this year titled ‘The Great Welsh Ice-cream Adventure’ (Wednesday 19th June); and a public engagement event in the centre of Cardiff (Friday 21st June).
NFU Cymru President Aled Jones said, “Over the last year the swell of public support for Welsh food and Welsh farmers has been humbling. Our consumer polling last winter highlighted that 82% of the Welsh public support government providing funding to farmers to produce food. I also know that NFU Cymru members and staff were taken aback with the positive response from those passing the union’s display of 5,500 wellies on the steps of the Senedd in Cardiff in March. All of this points to the fact that the people of Wales hold Welsh food in high regard and they want to see farmers supported to continue producing that food.
“Our Secure the Future of Welsh Food/Diogelu Dyfodol Bwyd Cymru campaign seeks to bring the industry together and show the high level of backing for the food produced in Wales by the nation’s farmers.”
NFU Cymru Deputy President Abi Reader said, “The future of farm policy and the funding attached to it has been the subject of much debate in Wales over many months. It is clearer than ever before that concerns over the impact of those policies on farmers’ ability to produce food is a view shared not just by the industry, but by the public, too. As farmers, it’s in our collective interests to make sure the voice of the public is heard when it comes to our efforts to Secure the Future of Welsh Food.
“At a time when food production around the world is under pressure due to the impacts of climate change and global conflict, we simply cannot afford to hinder the production of safe, high-quality food made in a climate that is perfectly suited to producing milk, meat, eggs, potatoes, crops and vegetables. We need as many people as possible to sign the petition on the NFU Cymru website over the next few months, in either Welsh or English, to mobilise this support for Welsh food. Ultimately, we want policy makers to see that the Welsh public want future support to deliver on the production of safe, sustainable, high-quality food produced in Wales.”