Janet Street-Porter to lead Red Tractor celebrations

TV personality Janet Street-Porter has been chosen to lead celebrations highlighting 10 years of the Red Tractor logo.

A week of celebrations, including a media campaign, will run from 14-20 June.

But a high-profile stunt which would have seen 10 red tractors driving down Whitehall for a photo-call has been called off.

Launched a decade ago by then Prime Minister Tony Blair, the Red Tractor logo now appears on £10bn of food every year.

Organisers hope Red Tractor Week will further increase awareness of the logo, which promotes food produced to British standards.

More than 78,000 farmers and growers are members of the scheme which highlights standards of food safety, animal welfare and environmental protection.

Special events are being planned by the NFU, Assured Food Standards, and the Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board.

AFS chairman David Gregory said: “Since its launch ten years ago, the Red Tractor scheme has brought together leading producers, processors and retailers and has gone from strength to strength.”

During the week, Ms Street-Porter will give media interviews explaining why shoppers should look out for Red Tractor logo.

Red Tractor Week will also include the launch of results from specially commissioned consumer research to identify the UK’s top outdoor eating spots.

An online Red Tractor outdoor eating guide will include recipes, picnic spots and outdoor eating tips and an interactive kids section.

A former newspaper editor, Ms Street-Porter flagged up the logo when employed as a reporter on Gordon Ramsey’s Channel 4 show, The F Word.

Her piece looked at different approaches to country of origin labelling, and examined why some products didn’t sign up to industry standards.