Jamie Oliver launches pig campaign

TV chef Jamie Oliver it set to give the British pig industry massive publicity in the New Year with a documentary on the industry.

As part of Channel 4’s Great British Food Fight cookery season, “Jamie saves our bacon” will illustrate the plight of Britain’s struggling pig farmers.

The show follows a series of programmes earlier this year by chef Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall, who documented Britain’s poultry industry.

Mr Oliver said: “Earlier this year we showed that if you give consumers the facts about chicken welfare they will make up their own minds and sales of higher-welfare chickens and eggs have gone through the roof as a result.

“Now I want to see if we can do the same for pigs.”

Britain’s pig industry is on its knees, despite pork being the second favourite meat of consumers, the chef said.

“Our farmers say that 70% of the pork we import is from countries with lower welfare standards than ours and would have been illegal to produce here,” he added.

The National Pig Association (NPA) and the RSPCA helped to produce the film.