THE WOMEN’S Food and Farming Union appears to have imploded within weeks of its 30th anniversary, writes Ewan Pate.

Most of the top officials have walked out and national president Janet Thorogood has resigned her position with immediate effect.

Scottish representative Debbie McBean, who has held the post of vice-president for three years and has spent 15 years on the organisation’s central executive committee has also resigned.

Mrs Thorogood, from Essex, only became president in March following the first contested election in the organisation’s history. She vowed to rejuvenate WFU with a review of key messages and policies and intended delegating high profile roles back to elected officials and members.

It appears that this hasn’t been possible.

She said, “I truly believe that it is only with change that WFU can move forward and do what it does best—looking after its members and working on behalf of the industry.

“However, we have been unable to make the changes necessary to create an organisation fit for the 21st century, and I cannot see that we will be able to move forward in the foreseeable future. Therefore it is with great regret that I see no other course of action but to resign my position as president.”

Mrs McBean, speaking from the hill farm in Glenferness, Nairn, which she runs with her husband Hamish, said, “Some of us felt we had to go. There have been internal problems which have stopped us going forward.

“It is very sad for me because I have been a member for 26 years and on the council for 15 of these. I am still a member of the WFU but will now stand back for a while and see what happens.”

Other long-standing WFU office-holders have also resigned, including land use and environment committee chairman Veronica Retallack, and food and consumer affairs committee chairman Liz Hodges, as well as other council members and branch chairmen.

The WFU originated in Kent in the late 1970s when a group of apple grower’s wives got together to protest about the price they were receiving for their produce and the huge amount of imported top fruit which stocked the supermarket shelves.

The movement grew from there and spread across the country, always with the same emphasis on the links between food production and the consumer.

However, in recent years there has been less activity. The Scottish section on the website is empty and it is believed that membership north of the border is less than 30.