Justin King has risked the wrath of the foodie community by refusing to categorically back British food during a presentation to students and food industry leaders at the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester, Gloucestershire.
Sainsbury's chief executive criticised campaigns encouraging shoppers only to Buy British food as “simplistic” and “fundamentally flawed”, as well as attacking the “food miles” fashion, before insisting that Sainsbury's and other supermarkets are helping farmers around the world by shipping their produce to Britain.
Today's Daily Mail believes these comments “put King on a collision course with British farmers and green campaigners”, who see importing food out of season as contributing to climate change.
Sainsbury's supports British farming, said King, but also continues to import fresh vegetables and flowers from Africa, fruit from South America and Asia, and meat and dairy products from New Zealand and Australia.
“We know that because of the size of our business we can make a real difference to people in places like Africa,” he said.
“That is why I am concerned about suggestions that we should be focusing more on buying British, or at least European. This is increasingly done under the banner of environmental sustainability - so-called food miles.
“My second concern, which seems to have gained greater credence with the downturn, is that we should be seeking to source all our food from the UK... This is fundamentally flawed in my view.”
King said suggestions that the British public should be growing all of their own produce are ill-conceived and that food from overseas does not always have a larger carbon footprint than produce from the UK.
“Those who argue that overseas trade is less 'green' than sourcing from Britain are painting too simplistic a picture,” he said.
“Concerns about food miles are, I believe, misplaced and ill-judged.”
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