A farmers’ leader called on those involved in the industry to reach out more to the public as he visited Suffolk this week.
National Farmers’ Union (NFU) vice president Stuart Roberts, who was speaking at the NFU Suffolk branch AGM, said by not talking about what they do, farmers had allowed politicians to delegate their responsibility for feeding a nation.
“We have all allowed society, politicians, ourselves, to forget about what’s the thing we actually do as farmers. Actually what we do is produce food and we have let people almost forget this,” he said.
He spoke of a worrying situation where people were leaving the country, and the challenges that could pose for the industry. The NFU had brought a ‘real presence’ to the Labour Party conference this year and this had been very well received, he said.
“It was the single best event we have done in terms of engaging with politicians and decision-makers.”
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