When I was at Thorpe Park a few weeks
back, my friends and I ate a shamefully
large quantity of fast food, amongst which was a lunch of KFC. Did
you know that that delicious original recipe chicken (the kind with
the bone in) came exclusively from British farms? And that they can
trace the source of that chicken all the way back to the individual
farm that it came from?
How do I know this? Because the
packaging that KFC used to serve me my lunch displayed this logo:
This week (15th to 21st
September) is Red Tractor Week – So in honour of that, I'm going
to make a short post about the subject.
Firstly, let me start with a bit of
background. Towards the end of the 90's, many farm assurance schemes
had been set up. The idea of these schemes was to encourage
confidence within the market that food was being produced to a
consistent standard of quality. The problem was, that with such a
large number of the schemes existing throughout the UK, it was hard
to keep track of exactly what each of these schemes really meant.
So, in 2000, the National Farmers Union set up an organisation called 'Assured Food Standards' (AFS),
comprising farmers and food industry experts, under which they
launched the 'British Farm Standard'. The purpose of this was to
create a single, recognisable stamp of approval, so that we as
consumers could easily identify products that had been produced to
good standards. And so the iconic Little Red Tractor was born.
It's encouraging to learn that a study this year, 14 years on, showed that almost 70% of children between
the ages of 11 and 16 recognised the Red Tractor Logo and understood what it represented!
In the UK, our produce really is some of the
best quality in the world, and it is in part as a result of the work
that AFS and the Red Tractor do to ensure that traceability, hygiene
and welfare standards are maintained. But buying British also means
supporting hard working farmers and food producers in this country
and helps in reducing our dependency on foreign importation.
You don't need to drive all the way out
to your local farm shop (although that certainly isn't a bad idea if
you can do it!) - Most major supermarkets stock Red Tractor
certified produce. So, even if it's only this week, please buy
something with a Red Tractor logo!
New post next week!
We do try and buy Tractor marked produce where possible, as I see it as at least something that we all can do with little effort to ensure the quality of the food we buy. We also have started considering food miles, and steer well clear of the things that have traveled suspiciously long distances to be in the supermarkets.. (I'm looking at you, Kenyan green beans - Which are both a local crop when is season, and not exactly difficult to grow yourself)
ReplyDeleteSo we look at tomatoes etc. to see where they are from and buy local wherever possible. Go us eh?
Well, kind of. While we do go out of our way to do this, we think nothing of picking up a Chardonnay from the new world, or some tasty South African number.. Coffee from Cost Rica anyone?
It is a case of double standards when you think about it, but I'm not sure many people actually do at the moment. While every little counts (to coin a phrase) when it comes to air miles, I think that it's easy to forget about these things, especially when there are good English alternatives.
Why aren't they taken you ask? Well, a lot of it is down to pricing I feel. A good quality bottle of English wine often comes with a good quality price tag, which is a shame. I suppose buying less, but locally produced is the way to go, but that's hard when it comes to 3 for £10 wine etc.
Perhaps one day this will even out, but I doubt it. But until it does, it's worth considering all of the implications and finding a balance where possible.