8th July 2024
James Hitchcock, CEO Radnorshire Wildlife Trust, submitted the following question to M&S via video:
"I am representing Radnorshire and Herefordshire Wildlife Trust and our partner stakeholders in the River Wye catchment. I have 2 questions for you today –
"a) Can you please detail the actions you are undertaking to ensure clean water supplies, with any particular focus on the River Wye catchment.
"b) We know that you source and have producers within the Wye catchment. Could you please publicly support and detail any actions you could take against points 2 and 4 in the recently published Manifesto for the Wye, which is supported by 15 NGOs within the catchment (Point 2: establish a recovery fund to resource a fair and fast transition to river friendly farming and nature based solutions; and Point 4: ensure supermarket pricing rewards river friendly farmer and that consumers are powered with honest and clear labelling)."
Disappointingly, the board did not take this question during the AGM but instead published a short reply online:
"The issue of water quantity and quality associated with farming is hugely complex. We source a variety of produce from the Wye & Usk area and, as is the case for all of those we work with, farmers and suppliers are required to act responsibly in terms of the production, transportation and application of manure used as fertiliser.
"All M&S Select Farms must have manure management plans, including the Red Tractor Poultry Litter Management Module or equivalent if using poultry manure.
"We have been helping to fund the Wye & Usk Foundation’s Agri-Food Partnership project and continue to work with, support and engage the suppliers we source from."
26th June 2024
Last year (2023), representatives from Herefordshire and Radnorshire Wildlife Trusts attended the AGMs of Tesco, M&S and Sainsbury’s. We asked them about their role in the supply chain which starts with the production of chickens and eggs in industrial units in the Wye Valley which has been shown to be the key contributor[1] to the pollution of the River Wye and its tributaries. (A round-up of last year’s action: Will the supermarkets step up and support the recovery of Herefordshire’s rivers before it’s too late? | Herefordshire Wildlife Trust (herefordshirewt.org)). Overall, we were disappointed with their responses to our questions which lacked any detail on what action, if any, they were taking.
Since then, we continued to try and engage with the supermarkets, inviting them to a Wildlife Trusts-hosted Round Table in July 2023 (The Wildlife Trust's chair River Wye Roundtable | Herefordshire Wildlife Trust (herefordshirewt.org)) but have yet to have any supermarket accept our request to visit us in the Wye Valley.
We returned to Tesco’s AGM this month (21st June 2024) to ask what progress they had made.
What we asked:
“I would firstly like to thank Tesco for attending The Wildlife Trust’s round table on river pollution last year and continuing to engage with the Wildlife Trusts on this issue.
“Industrial, intensive livestock units, in particular those housing chickens supplied to Tesco by Avara, litter the beautiful Wye Valley and are responsible for much of the nutrient pollution of the River Wye. Last year, the river, designated a Special Area of Conservation, had its official status downgraded to ‘unfavourable-declining’, by Natural England.
“The Wildlife Trusts, as part of the Save the Wye coalition, this year published a Manifesto which calls for:
- The establishment of a Wye Recovery Fund to resource a fair and fast transition to river-friendly farming and nature-based solutions.
- Supermarket pricing to reward river-friendly farming and that consumers are empowered with honest labelling.
“At last year’s AGM, you told us that you were addressing the pollution crisis that is decimating the River Wye through working with WWF and WRAP, though you gave no detail on specific actions being taken.
“Please could you tell us what changes you have made in the last year to ensure Tesco produce and profits are not at the expense of a devastated landscape and if you would support our manifesto by contributing to a Wye Recovery Fund and labelling your products clearly and honestly to reflect their origin and method of production.
“We would also like to reissue our, as yet unaccepted, invitation to you to visit the Wye Valley to see the extent of the problem and discuss practical solutions we could collaborate on.”
Our question was answered by Tesco’s CEO Ken Murphy. He told us that Tesco’s action to reduce pollution was to fund WRAP . This had, he said, led to 200 farm visits being conducted in the last year and 40 farm management plans produced.
He made reference to Avara (a major supplier of Tesco) and their goal to end the sale of manure within the catchment and reduction of phosphate inputs by reformulating their livestock fee.
He did not answer the questions of whether they would consider contributing to a recovery fund or a move towards clearly labelling to allow consumers to make more informed choices.
We felt that, while Tesco is making some progress and funding positive action, the changes they are making are extremely limited. Farm visits and management plans can offer farmers good guidance but Mr Murphy did not suggest that farmers were being supported financially to make the changes required nor did he say that any recommendations made on visits or reports were compulsory for their suppliers to follow.
Not only does it seem that we are still a long way off firmly stopping the sources of pollution, we have barely starting implementing positive interventions that would recover our rivers and their wildlife.
If supermarkets want to be taken seriously for supporting sustainable practices they need to do far more – and be far more transparent. Consumers currently have no idea how their eggs and chicken are produced and the damage the supply chain is causing to our natural world, and they are not being given choices in store to make informed purchases.
We will follow up our visit with a letter to Tesco’s CEO and Board, asking them to meet us to discuss how they might do more for the river through their supply chain and in their stores.
