A new British farmers' union opposing the "stranglehold of big business over agricultural policy" will be protesting outside the Head offices of the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the NFU, which are situated next to one another in London on Thursday 17th April.

The Landworkers' Alliance (LWA) is a coalition of small-scale producers who believe their views are not represented by the NFU – or recognized by DEFRA. The newly formed Alliance, which only came together at the beginning of the year, currently boasts 150 members, many of whom have been involved in the union's other initiatives against the controversial new EU seeds package.

LWA said that, under the leadership of Owen Patterson, who took over control of Defra from Caroline Spelman two years ago, the department has strengthened its support of large-scale industrial agriculture and marginalised smaller producers, while the NFU has consistently lobbied for the interests of agribusiness and ignored the views of smaller farmers.

"DEFRA needs to recognise the role of small-scale producers in contributing to the national food economy, as well as the environmental and social services provided by these producers," said Ed Hamer, a spokesperson for the Alliance.  "As a matter of urgency we demand that DEFRA create policies conducive to a sustainable food future for all."

The LWA is part of a growing movement seeking to provide counter-narratives to the dominant school of thought in food production. This includes groups such as the Campaign for Real Farming, whose annual Real Farming Conference continues to provide a successful alternative to the OFC, held concurrently in Oxford each January.

The Alliance itself is part of the international peasant farming movement La Via Campesina which represents 200 million landless and small-scale producers around the world.