TV chef leads fight against supermarkets

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, the television chef and champion of small producers, is fronting a new offensive against the supermarkets which he portrays as a "bullying" force destroying British food.

The Channel 4 presenter will denounce the supermarkets at a public meeting in Westminster tonight and demand new powers to limit their growth.

Four campaign groups are behind the event, Supersized Supermarkets: Friends of the Earth, War on Want, ActionAid and the anti-Tesco website Tescopoly. They are asking the public to write to their MPs and the Competition Commissioner to make five demands, ranging from a new consumer watchdog to stronger labour rights.

The Commissioner is investigating whether the supermarket groups, which take 72 per cent of grocery spending in the UK, are abusing their dominant position.

Campaigners argue that stores harm the environment, diminish local communities and bully suppliers over prices and councils over planning permission.

In an advance text of his speech, Fearnley-Whittingstall, who showcased local seasonal food in his River Cottage series, warned that homogeneous supermarkets were a threat to shoppers and farmers.

"It's a major scandal that the supermarkets have been allowed to have such a corrosive effect on the local and ultimately national food culture," he said.

"Local producers are bullied and even busted by the aggressive tactics of the supermarket whilst many shopping centres, once the heart of the community, have been standardised or gutted by retail totalitarianism.

"We need to shout loud for far tighter curbs on supermarket growth and for strong protection for suppliers and shopping diversity."

Rosie Boycott, the broadcaster and journalist, chairing the debate, protested: "The supermarkets are having an increasingly bad effect on farming and the food we eat.

"Anything that can be done to limit their power, their scope and their reach must be done."

Speakers addressing the meeting at the Emmanuel Centre in Marsham Street will claim that the rapid growth of supermarkets around the world is wreaking havoc on farmers, workers, consumers and the environment.

Campaigners against the supermarkets will tell how they are fighting back and what people can do to challenge their power.

MPs were to discuss the issue at a meeting today at the House of Commons and an Early Day Motion calling for restrictions on supermarkets was to be tabled by the Liberal Democrat MP Andrew George. Tony Juniper, director of Friends of the Earth, said people were increasingly aware of the "hidden consequences" of supermarket power.

He claimed their low prices prevented farmers and workers from earning a living wage, pressured growers to use more chemicals, destroyed local shops, and generated unnecessary traffic and food miles.

Vicki Hird, supermarket campaigner at Friends of the Earth, stressed that the big store chains were not inherently bad. "We don't think they are malign by their nature but we think they have been allowed to grow to the extent that they are. We are not against supermarkets per se," she said. A representative of a banana workers' union in Central America is travelling to the meeting to express concerns about the impact of deflating food prices, which have decreased across the board in the UK by 7 per cent since 2000.

The demands

* A block on any new takeovers by Tesco or other major supermarkets

* Stronger planning policies to protect local shops and high streets

* A legally binding supermarket code of practice to ensure fair treatment for farmers

* An independent watchdog to protect the interests of consumers, farmers and small retailers

* Rules to protect workers' rights at home and overseas

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