IT’S never been more important to support British beef, say farmers and the organsiations that represent them.

Cornish farmer and Aberdeen Angus breeder Dilys Rowe says she was appalled to hear that supermarkets had begun importing beef mince from Poland during the lockdown. As shoppers piled their trolleys high, and demand outstripped supply, supermarkets such as Sainsburys and Asda admitted they had sourced from ’alternative suppliers’ to keep their fridges stocked.

’The fact that they’re bringing in foreign meat when they could be supporting the British beef industry is appalling. Especially at this time when farmers need the market for their meat to make their living,’ said Dilys.

‘In Britain we have some of the highest standards in the world for rearing meat. We’ve got really strict rules for our animals and what happens to them before they are slaughtered. We don’t do growth promoters, they can’t be slaughtered within so many weeks of having medicines, and we have to keep strict records of any medicines that may be used.

’A lot of British meat comes under what was known as the Farm Assured British Beef and Lamb label (Red Tractor scheme), she continued.

‘They come round every year and check absolutely everything from food and water given to animals, to fertiliser put on fields, animal medical records, housing, waste disposal, transportation, down to when you last wormed the dogs and cats and vermin control.’

Dilys would like customers to think about quality as well as quantity when they’re making a choice about what meat to buy – and consider the fact that buying locally or UK produced meat has less food miles involved and so is better for the environment.

The National Farmers Union (NFU) and the National Beef Association (NBA) expressed their dismay over the ’Polish beef scandal’.

In a letter to the CEO of Sainsburys and Asda, the NBA said: ‘It is unacceptable to us as an organisation, and, we suspect, to the British population, that you would choose to import beef from abroad at this time,’ said the NBA.

‘Currently, there are no definitive answers on how COVID-19 may or may not be transmitted – are you able to guarantee the safety of imported food? Can you confirm and evidence that the source farms in Poland comply with the same rigorous conditions that British farms must adhere to in order to be able to supply your stores?’

The letter also reproaches the supermarkets’ decision to ‘hike the prices’ on certain products rather than taking an opportunity to support British farmers with special offers on certain cuts of meat.

Instead, ’prices have been hiked on certain goods, and producers have been subject to a squeeze on farm gate prices through processing suppliers’ said the organisation.

Meanwhile the NFU said that put simply, farmers could nit sustain asupply of ’one half of the animal’.

There was a carcass imbalance in the supply system, said the union, and supermarkets needed to ’remember the moral partnership that is needed between farmers, processors and retailers’.

’In an open letter, NFU livestock board chairman Richard Findlay and vice-chairman Wyn Evans said: ’Beef and sheep farmers are facing massive and unwarranted disruption to their livelihoods as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.

‘But while UK consumers continue to demand high quality beef and lamb, which UK farmers can supply, we see unsustainable returns for our livestock.

’The immediate impact of disruptive buying in your stores and the closure of the food service sector has been extreme. We understand that a great amount of effort and energy has been put in place to realign supply, fill shelves and protect staff and customer safety. It’s clearly a national priority to ensure shoppers can feed their families and keep the nation going at this time of need. The farmers we represent feel passionately about contributing to this effort, and we want to make sure that you and your customers are assured that British beef and lamb is in plentiful supply.’