{"id":58105,"date":"2026-06-08T00:41:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T00:41:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/58105\/"},"modified":"2026-06-08T00:41:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T00:41:14","slug":"zack-polanski-warns-britains-food-system-is-close-to-collapse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/58105\/","title":{"rendered":"Zack Polanski warns Britain\u2019s food system is \u2018close to collapse\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Your support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 iOIawn\">From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it&#8217;s investigating the financials of Elon Musk&#8217;s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, &#8216;The A Word&#8217;, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 iOIawn\">At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-1uza6dc-0 iOIawn\">The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n<p>Your support makes all the difference.Read more<\/p>\n<p>Green Party co-leader Zack Polanski is set to deliver a stark warning about the UK&#8217;s food system, describing it as &#8220;close to collapse&#8221; and asserting that food workers&#8217; contributions are &#8220;sneered at.&#8221; He will use a speech on Monday to call for greater support for farmers.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Polanski will advocate for robust regulation of supermarkets to ensure growers receive a fair deal for their produce. He is also expected to demand that the Government present a &#8220;real plan&#8221; to bolster the struggling agricultural sector.<\/p>\n<p>Among the Greens&#8217; proposals are extending free school meals to all primary and secondary pupils. They also suggest a \u00a31,000-a-month basic income for some agricultural workers, which they state would be financed through a levy on the wealthiest landowners.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, the party pledges a universal \u00a315 per hour minimum wage for all workers, irrespective of age, with the costs for small businesses mitigated by reductions in their National Insurance contributions.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking to the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union on Monday, Mr Polanski will say: \u201cJust a couple of weeks ago, we saw the hottest May day ever recorded in the UK.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy the beginning of May, the UK had received 23% less rain than average. The Climate Change Committee warns that within 25 years we could see temperatures above 40C.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat doesn\u2019t just mean more people getting sick from extreme heat, or more pressure on infrastructure that just isn\u2019t built for these temperatures. As many of you in this room well know, it has terrifying implications for the most fundamental need we all have \u2013 food.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/GettyImages-1938434609.jpeg\"  loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"In a speech on Monday, the Green leader will say stronger regulation of supermarkets is needed to ensure growers get a fair deal for their produce and demand the Government offers a \u2018real plan\u2019 to help the industry\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE inline-gallery-btn\"\/>In a speech on Monday, the Green leader will say stronger regulation of supermarkets is needed to ensure growers get a fair deal for their produce and demand the Government offers a \u2018real plan\u2019 to help the industry (AFP\/Getty)<\/p>\n<p>The party leader will tell audience members their work \u201ckeeps the country moving\u201d but \u201call too often, that fact is forgotten\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>He will say: \u201cYour work is sneered at, shrugged off, or taken for granted. Your pay doesn\u2019t match the importance of the work you do \u2013 and doesn\u2019t keep up with your rising bills.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour hours get longer, you\u2019re expected to work in increasingly hot or wet conditions, you\u2019re on a precarious contract so you\u2019re scared to take sick leave or have a day off to spend with your kids.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe system is broken. And under increasing strain from the climate crisis, it\u2019s close to collapse.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Labour accused the Green leader of chasing \u201ccheap headlines\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/2199329478...jpeg\"  loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"The Greens have called for a \u00a31,000-a-month basic income for some agricultural workers, which they say would be funded by a tax on the wealthiest landowners\" class=\"sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE inline-gallery-btn\"\/>The Greens have called for a \u00a31,000-a-month basic income for some agricultural workers, which they say would be funded by a tax on the wealthiest landowners (Getty)<\/p>\n<p>A party spokesperson said: \u201cIf Zack Polanski had bothered to do his research, he would know Labour is already investing \u00a3200 million to help Britain\u2019s farming sector adapt to a changing climate to help us guarantee food security for the long term.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKeir Starmer\u2019s Labour Government is the first to ever commit to maintaining domestic food production levels and bringing forward vital protections for farmers in the supply chain.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile Zack Polanski chases cheap headlines, Labour is focused on easing the cost of living, supporting our farmers, and making sure we deliver the food security Britain needs.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58106,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[156,13,7418,6764,28305,28302,254,173,2447,28304,28303,7491,181,6355,7416,985,6767,14,6769,28306,9844,5],"class_list":["post-58105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-britain","tag-agriculture","tag-britain","tag-business-finance-and-industry","tag-color-image","tag-cow","tag-dairy-product","tag-economy","tag-england","tag-family","tag-farm","tag-farmer","tag-finance-and-economy","tag-government","tag-horizontal","tag-one-person","tag-people","tag-photography","tag-politics","tag-politics-and-government","tag-richard-parsons","tag-three-quarter-length","tag-uk"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116711711434899165","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58105\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58106"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}