Originally from: mona parr
                        
Turkey hotline to help struggling farmers

Felicity Lawrence, consumer affairs correspondent
Tuesday November 19, 2002
<A HREF="http://www.guardian.co.uk/">The Guardian</A>

A turkey hotline to put customers in direct contact with local farmers for Christmas was launched yesterday. British growers hope the scheme will help them to fight back against a 35% decline in British production over the past 10 years. In that period half of British turkey farmers have disappeared. The hotline, which will operate from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday until Christmas Eve, will provide callers with the location of turkey farms near them. About 9m turkeys will be imported into Britain this year, according to the National Farmers' Union, whereas a decade ago all turkeys eaten in Britain would have been home-reared. The combination of a strong pound and cheap imports from eastern Europe and Brazil, where labour and feed costs are lower, has made it hard for British turkey farmers to compete. The price that producers receive for their turkeys has also fallen. Turkeys for the Christmas market are often reared by small family farmers in Britain and form an important part of their income. "Large numbers of turkeys are now coming into the country from Hungary and Brazil, where animal welfare standards and restrictions on drug use are not as strict as here," said Charles Bourns, chairman of the NFU's poultry division. Furazolidone, a nitrofuran antibiotic that is cancer-causing and therefore banned for use on animals in the EU, is for example, permitted in Brazilian production. Around 10m turkeys are eaten in Britain over the Christmas period. Half are sold fresh and half frozen. Bernard Matthews, one of the largest processors, moved some of its production to Hungary a few years ago, and some of the major supermarkets are sourcing frozen birds in South America. The turkey hotline number is 0870 060 3436.