Trusted Farmers

There is no legal or regulatory definition of what a “trusted farmer” should be. The term merely refers to the farmers that supermarkets have contracts with, and say they trust. But how do they know they can trust them and what is it exactly that they are trusting them to do? Or not to do.

There have been dozens of investigations into UK farms in just the last five years that have revealed widespread suffering, appalling conditions, mutilations, pregnant animals confined in cages, illegal abuse, and widespread breaches of environmental regulations. ^{5 6 7} Many of these are connected to supermarkets who say they trust their farmers.

For example, at one M&S farm, investigators found hens who had collapsed, others suffering from injuries such as suspected prolapsed cloacas, as well as feather loss and overgrown nails which made it difficult for the birds even to walk. ⁹

And did Tesco trust the Bakkafrost salmon farm found dumping diseased fish into a sea loch and allowing others to suffocate to death?¹⁰