Sargent’s postcard campaign little more than PR exercise, says Labour

A ROW has broken out between the Green party and the Labour party over misleading food labelling.

The Greens launched a campaign at the national ploughing championships to stamp out the practice.

Food Minister Trevor Sargent said the recent closure of Cappoquin Chickens was a severe blow to agriculture and food security in Ireland. One of the main reasons cited behind the closure was the increased import of foreign-bred meat.

Postcards with the slogan ‘We need to know where our food comes from’ are being given by the Green party to visitors at “The Ploughing”.

The postcards are addressed to EU consumer commissioner Meglena Kuneva and call for a change in European Union law to ensure proper country of origin labelling.

But the Labour party’s agriculture spokesperson Sean Sherlock TD slated the postcard campaign.

“Misleading food labelling is a huge problem that allows foreign companies to label their cheap produce as Irish, even if it has been grown abroad,” he said.

“As a result, produce that is genuinely Irish is at a massive disadvantage. Just last week, we saw the end result of this when Cappoquin Chickens announced its closure.

“The ramifications for the agrifood industry and for the Irish economy are huge and require an aggressive and robust response at the highest level. Instead what we get is a half-baked campaign by a minister who is just not up to the job,” he said.

Mr Sherlock said the postcard campaign is little more than a cynical exercise in spin and PR. The fact that the Green party has launched a campaign on the issue is a sure sign that it is feeling the heat and wish to convey an impression that Minister Sargent is actually doing something about the issue

“Sadly for growers, producers and workers in the agrifood sector the reality is completely different. Tightening up on labelling requires a legislative response and a level of consensus at EU level, but we are seeing none of this from Minister Sargent,” he said.