TV chefs Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall back milk price campaign

TV chefs Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall have added their support to the campaign for fairer milk prices.

The pair has issued a joint letter to The Times saying they are shocked to hear that, once again, British dairy farmers are receiving less money for their milk than it costs to produce it.

They have called on supermarkets to stop using milk as a loss leader and urged consumers to withdraw their custom from retailers who offer milk at “crazy knock down prices”.

“Dairy farmers can’t take industrial action. Their daily commitment to their herd makes it impossible. How cynical of retailers to take advantage of it.”
Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

The letter said: “Milk is a brilliant food that we have all lost sight of its value. We pay more for bottled water than we do milk – yet water bubbles out of the ground, while milk comes from livestock which need our care.

“Dairy farmers can’t take industrial action. Their daily commitment to their herd makes it impossible. How cynical of retailers to take advantage of it.

“If the dairy industry expires or becomes super-industrialised, it’s not just thousands of family businesses that will go to the wall. Our whole landscape is threatened.

“All over Britain the patchwork of hedgerows and grass fields owes its existence to the traditional production of milk.”