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Stephen and Alison Murton rehearsing their parts in the song Stand By Your Ham.
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In what they say is a last-ditch attempt to save the country's pork industry, dozens of pig farmers gathered in London on Thursday to record their song "Stand by your Ham".
The song -- which reworks Tammy Wynette's "Stand by Your Man" with a porcine theme -- is intended to alert the public to a sector that farmers say is being pushed to extinction by greedy supermarket chains and rising feed prices.
"Stand by your ham," runs the chorus. "Sausages, pork and bacon/Help us stay in business/Because our pigs are worth it/Stand by your ham."
With little singing experience but fuelled by enthusiasm and bacon sandwiches, the 20 to 30 farmers hope to rely on affection for traditional pork products from pies to sausages.
It will be available for download from the weekend from the website www.pigsareworthit.com
"It's a lighthearted way of drawing attention to a very serious issue," Yorkshire pig farmer Richard Longthorp told reporters by telephone from the recording session.
"If this doesn't stop, then as sure as eggs is eggs, the industry is going to disappear."
The farmers say they lose more than 20 pounds a pig after unprecedented rises in feed prices fuelled by soaring global cereal prices due to higher fuel costs, competition from biofuels, increased demand from Asia and drought in Australia.
The National Pig Association says surveys show consumers are willing to pay a little more to help famers and keep high-quality pig farming -- which farmers say puts animal welfare first -- in business. They want politicians to put pressure on retailers.
According to a recent National Pig Association survey, 95pc of farmers are considering stopping production if the price they receive does not improve.
(Agencies) |
本周四，幾十位養(yǎng)豬農(nóng)戶齊聚倫敦，錄制他們的歌曲《守住你的火腿》。養(yǎng)豬戶們稱這是他們?yōu)檎缺緡?guó)豬肉業(yè)所做的最后一搏。
這首“豬之歌”改編自泰米?維奈特的《守候你的男人》，旨在引起公眾對(duì)豬肉業(yè)的關(guān)注。農(nóng)戶們稱，由于超市連鎖店的貪得無(wú)厭和飼料價(jià)格持續(xù)上漲，目前這一行業(yè)正逐漸萎縮。
歌曲的副歌部分是這樣寫的：“守住你的火腿！香腸、豬肉和熏肉/幫助我們站穩(wěn)腳跟/因?yàn)槲覀兊呢i寶寶確實(shí)值得/守住你的火腿。”
這二三十位農(nóng)戶沒什么演唱經(jīng)驗(yàn)，但在熱情和“熏肉三明治”的支撐下，他們希望能從人們對(duì)餡餅、香腸等傳統(tǒng)豬肉食品的熱愛中得到些支持。
Pigsareworthit.com網(wǎng)站將于本周末提供這首歌曲的下載。
約克郡養(yǎng)豬戶理查德?朗索普在錄音時(shí)接受記者的電話采訪時(shí)說(shuō)：“這是在用一種輕松愉快的方式引起人們對(duì)一個(gè)十分嚴(yán)峻的問題予以關(guān)注。”
“如果這種狀況持續(xù)下去，那么毫無(wú)疑問，這個(gè)行業(yè)必將會(huì)消失。”
農(nóng)戶們說(shuō)，由于全球谷物價(jià)格不斷上漲造成飼料價(jià)格飆升，現(xiàn)在他們每頭豬的損失達(dá)到了二十多英鎊。而全球谷物價(jià)格的上漲主要是由燃油價(jià)格上漲、來(lái)自生物燃料行業(yè)的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)、亞洲地區(qū)谷物需求量的增加以及澳大利亞的旱災(zāi)等因素造成的。
據(jù)全國(guó)養(yǎng)豬協(xié)會(huì)介紹，調(diào)查顯示，消費(fèi)者愿意多花一點(diǎn)錢來(lái)幫助養(yǎng)豬農(nóng)戶、保證高質(zhì)養(yǎng)豬業(yè)的發(fā)展（按照農(nóng)戶的話說(shuō)就是，將‘動(dòng)物福利’放在首位）。他們希望政界人士能在這方面給零售商們施加壓力。
據(jù)全國(guó)養(yǎng)豬協(xié)會(huì)的一項(xiàng)最新調(diào)查，95%的農(nóng)戶表示，如果生豬收購(gòu)價(jià)格不提高，他們將考慮停產(chǎn)。
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（英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津姍姍編輯）
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