A clash of beliefs over food standards and imports

Varied media types who play at being farmers have decided to write to Ministers and MPs about standards for food imports. At the heart of their insistence is a clash of beliefs.

No, not our beliefs against their or anything, but an irreconcilable illogic in their own beliefs:

Importing low-quality agri-food products could force British farmers out of business as well as further degrade the environment. Neither we nor the public want this, as several surveys and petitions have shown.

The problem here is that the importation of such “low-quality” foodstuffs doesn’t threaten the business of British farmers one iota nor whit.

The purchase and presumably subsequent consumption of such items by British consumers very likely would.

The claim is that said consumers don’t desire this cheap food may or may not be true. If it is true then if available they won’t purchase it and won’t consume it - the business of British farmers is safe by that very contention that consumers don’t want this foreign muck.

On the other hand, if farmers’ business is indeed threatened by such imports then it must be true that British consumers will purchase and consume this delightful product of foreigners’ labours.

That is, either no one wants it and therefore a ban is not required or a ban is required because people want it. It cannot be true that a ban is necessary because no one does want it.

The real question then becoming, well, if people want it then who are these celebrity farmers with the effrontery to insist they may not have it?