Do you know where your food comes from?
If you are reading this then you probably do, but there are far too many people who don’t, so an initiative by the U.K.’s fourth largest supermarket Morrisons that sees it taking to its shoppers by bus to its suppliers’ farms is more than welcomed.
The retailer is trialing what it calls “Morrisons Farm Bus Tours” and has already taken a group of day trippers to a mixed cattle, sheep and crop farm that has been supplying it for over a decade.
Feedback would appear to be positive with one visitor commenting that it was good to know where the retailer’s produce came from. She recommended that more of the chain’s customers take the excursion to obtain a better understanding of the journey of food from farm to plate.
The retailer too was pleased with how its customers enjoyed the first farm bus tour, adding that more are in the pipeline, and that plans are afoot to work with local stores and their suppliers to bring more tripe to life over the coming months.
Farm to fork
It is hoped that the tours will take the mystery out of where and how Morrisons produces its food, giving customers a unique behind-the-scenes perspective on working farms. The company says that it is British farming’s biggest customer, working directly with over 2,500 farmers and growers all year round, so there ought to be plenty of opportunities for future visits.
Of course, farm visits are far from unique. Within the U.K., for example Open Farm Sunday, has been working with farmers to open their farms for coming up on a decade.
What’s interesting about this initiative, however, is that the pick up point for the passengers, and I assume the drop off point, is their branch of the supermarket, so there really is little escaping that the animals that see they on their day trip will end up on the supermarket shelves.
