The other day we were shopping at Lidl and i spotted some Spanish asparagus at just 79p a bunch,i fancied some and was about to put some in the trolley when my wife said we should buy local grown,the following day she brought a bunch home that she had bought at the general market in Shrewsbury,when i asked how much it cost she told me it was £2.It will be the Spanish stuff next time,sod the loyalty to UK growers.Can someone please tell me how on earth the home grown product costs more than the one that has travelled thousands of miles to get here.

Its on offer in tescos now two bunches for three pounds, quality stuff. I had tried the aldi stuff, and I say stuff but it was very thin about eight sprigs woody and tasted bland. At the end of the day I think your paying for quality, shop around I guess is the answer. Remember also they say British Asparagus is the best quality in the world so it fetches a high price.

The minimum wage (which most vegetable pickers and packers get) in Spain is about £2 per hour, in the UK it is £5.35. I expect piecework rates show a similar picture.

This must make a big difference in costs to farmers.

Immigrant workers who pick the stuff get far less than the legal mim. wage.

The reasons are complex as to why you're paying more for British produce, but can be summarized by the word 'globalization'.
Also the general runniung down of British agriculture.

Not from honest farmers they don't. Even those who do get less tend to be employed by gangmasters who charge the farmer say £6 per hour to find the workers and only give £3 or less per hour to the worker. Therefore the farmer doesn't actually save any money.

This is of course illegal and anybody caught doing this gets fined. I'm sure it does happen of course but most agricultural businesses comply with the law.