Breaking up supermarkets
Local food enterprises are calling upon the ACCC to break up Australia's supermarket duopoly off the back of recent price cuts by the majors.
Food Connect and CERES Fair Food have been joined by Australian farming and agriculture groups in calling for "a more sustainable, fair food future".
"For too long the market dominance of Australian supermarkets has meant increased pressure on our farmers to provide cheap fruit and vegetables", says the group.
They say there is a mass exodus of farming families walking off the land at the rate of 25 per week.
“In a year dedicated to celebrating the Farmer, people should know that there is an alternative to the aggressive behaviour of the major supermarkets," says Robert Pekin, Food Connect founder and spokesperson.
"I urge Australian citizens to ask themselves who grew their food and whether those farmers were paid a fair price for their hard work."
Food Connect, from Sydney and Brisbane, and CERES Fair Food are Community, in Melbourne, are local farmers markets that pay their growers up to 40 cents in the retail dollar for their produce.
They say as a result of these fair farm gate prices hundreds of farmers in Queensland, NSW and Victoria have stayed on the land.
“In stark contrast, the last twelve months has seen 30 Queensland dairy farmers abandon their farms as a direct consequence of the milk price wars initiated by the supermarket duopoly," says Pekin.
“The ACCC should be holding the duopoly to account. Predatory pricing practices are not only illegal, but un-Australian.
“This is the tip of the iceberg. If we don’t act now, we risk compromising our food security and it will be our children who will wear the costs down the
track.”
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