Pig farm leaders have launched a new website urging members of the public to support the pig industry by buying more British pork.
The National Pig Association (NPA) is urging people to #PutBritishPorkOnYourFork as part of a campaign encouraging support for the sector.
Pig farmers across the UK are displaying banners carrying the campaign slogan and the NPA has launched a consumer-facing website to promote the benefits of British pork to shoppers.
Check out this new site https://t.co/qWl1MQugMa
loads of info on why you should put British Pork on your fork!@NatPigAssoc @ladies_in_pigs @AIMS_Meat @NFUtweets #PutBritishPorkOnYourFork pic.twitter.com/8nyMNUiqw5— Great British Pork (@GBpork) May 27, 2021
The website – putporkonyourfork.net – explains how British pork is responsibly produced, produced to high welfare standards, and “independently assured and robustly audited”.
It urges shoppers to show their support for the British pig sector in various ways, including by looking out for British assurance logos and flags on packaging, and making sure they are buying British, rather than EU, pork.
The website states: “If in doubt, ask! If there is no clear indication of where your pork comes from, for example when you are in the local butchers or eating out or buying food to take out, ask where it comes from.”
Lobbying plea
The NPA website also encourages consumers to lobby politicians and retailers to back the sector.
It urges people to write to their local MPs asking them to write to their local MPs to support British pork and to contact retailers directly to ask them to source more British pork.
“As the website says, all consumers should be able to choose British pork if they want to,” said NPA chief executive Zoe Davies.
“Buying British doesn’t mean that it is automatically more expensive, and by supporting British farmers you are making a better choice environmentally and for pig welfare.”
She encouraged farmers and shoppers to use social media to show their support for the campaign with the hashtag #PutBritishPorkOnYourFork and by tagging @GBpork on Twitter.
Ms Davies said the campaign was launched in response to the “perfect storm” which hit the pig sector of post-Brexit trade disruptions, Covid-19 abattoir shutdowns, falling prices and record costs of production.
“This has been a tough time for British pork producers,” added Ms Davies.
“We have got a great story to tell and we want to reach out to consumers, retailers and Government to tell them what a fantastic job our pig farmers do and why they should always #PutBritishPorkonYourFork.”
Last week, Scottish Pig Producers chief executive Andy McGowan said the future of the Scottish pig industry was heavily dependent on getting a Chinese export licence reinstated at the country’s main abattoir in Brechin.
The £10m specialist Quality Pork Plant lost its export licence for China after a Covid-19 outbreak among staff in January.