On Wednesday, members of small farm union the Landworkers’ Alliance (LWA) marched on British Sugar’s facility in Bury St Edmonds, Suffolk.

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The LWA protest, which was called to coincide with the International Day of Peasants’ Struggle, aimed to highlight and contest the government’s “Biased and shortsighted focus on industrial farming.”

Challenging government policy, and the influence of large-scale farm unions on it, LWA last year targeted the offices of Defra and the NFU, which are situated next to one another in Smith Square, London.

Wednesday’s demonstration saw over 60 union members and supporters descend on British Sugar’s factory, demanding changes to government agriculture policy and the subsidy regime, and calling for the implementation of a cohesive national food policy. Farmers marched from Bury St Edmunds train station to the local British Sugar factory at 1pm on Wednesday. They were joined by New York-based performance artists Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping.  

LWA claims that changes to agricultural policy have denied small-scale farmers support that would help them flourish, and that the distorted focus of agricultural policy has intensified under the Tory-led Coalition Government.

In an attempt to raise awareness and influence policy, the union has launched a survey of the UK’s small farms, which it hopes will build up a picture of the country’s diverse, small-scale producers and counter the dominant narrative that small-scale farms are less productive.

Commenting on Wednesday’s protest, Bob Sheppard, an LWA member from Sussex, said,“We want to see a subsidy system that supports farmers to get away from big industrial monocultures.

“The future of farming is in local, healthy, sustainable agriculture and not in the sort of monopoly that British Sugar represents. You can’t grow organic sugar beet in this country and get it processed, and for the beet that is grown, all the profits end up with [Associated British Foods - owners of British Sugar] shareholders anyway. We want the profits to go to local communities”.

Changes to subsidy regime

On Wednesday, LWA pointed out that 90% of fruit and 45% of vegetables consumed in the UK are imported. The union called for more action to encourage small producers, who could contribute to improving domestic production.

the Alliance is seeking changes to the subsidy regime, to allow smaller farmers (those who farm under five hectares) to qualify for a portion of the UK’s £3 billion annual CAP payment. The union claims “Small scale, ecological farmers provide healthy fruit and veg, grass fed meat and dairy products, arable crops, carbon sequestration, more biodiversity and more employment. That’s what we should be supporting.”

The Alliance has clarified that it is not against either the workers of British Sugar, or farmers growing sugar beet, but believes that British Sugar is representative of the need for a better food policy in
Britain.

Reacting to the protest, British Sugar’s Agriculture Director Colm McKay said, “British Sugar works with 3,500 growers and council tenant farmers to produce and process sugar beet in the UK. This includes many smaller farmers who continue to grow sugar beet as it provides a positive margin for them and continues to support the economic sustainability of their farms.”
 
McKay said British Sugar supports 13,000 rural jobs, invests in renewable energy and aims to create sustainable products from all raw materials it processes. The British Sugar spokesperson added, “Sugar beet is an exceptional, rotational break crop and is eligible for Countryside and Environmental Stewardship points. It has lots of benefits for the farms on which it is grown and, as with any root crop good soil management removes any issues with soil quality.”
 
Speaking to Farming Online on Wednesday, LWA spokesperson Joanna Mudhar said, “Our key message is that we want a national food policy to fix our broken food system.

“There is currently no national policy that takes into account public health, the environment and fair wages for food producers, and the lack of such a policy has had some pretty perverse results. One such result is subsidising sugar production in parallel to calls for a sugar tax.”  

This week’s action took place on the International Day of Peasants’ Struggle, as LWA forms part of the worldwide Via Campesina Movement, which represents 200 million small-scale producers. Joanna Mudhar added, “Along with the Scottish Crofters Association, we are part of the Via Campesina organisation in Britain. This is traditionally a day where protests are held, and the march has been our contribution.”