The British Meat Processors Association has launched its first ever Meat Industry Manifesto. The document focuses on a worrying long-term trend of declining livestock numbers that has resulted in a marked reduction in the number of abattoirs. If left unchecked, this trend will accelerate and jeopardise Britain’s food security.
A variety of government policies across the supply chain are contributing to this problem, and it is necessary – the association writes – to halt the decline and restore growth.
According to the association, “the British slaughterhouse industry is threatened by falling agricultural production, increasingly onerous trade barriers and a systemic shortage of labour. The number of slaughterhouses has declined from around 2,500 in the 1970s to just 203 today.”
For the British Meat Processors Association, this data “should be of concern to both consumers and the UK government because, once we pass a tipping point where we do not have a viable slaughterhouse industry, it will lead to a further decline in domestic agriculture, greater reliance on imported meat and the loss of a key pillar of UK food security.”
More information: Download the BMPA Meat Industry Manifesto here.
