Tractors and chef herald new logo
6 June 2000
Tractors and chef herald new logo
GLEAMING red tractors and lunch with a celebrity chef will mark the arrival of the new British Farm Standard logo in supermarkets.
The 2m kitemark, pictured left, developed for the National Farmers Union, highlights food produced under British farm assurance schemes.
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It guarantees high levels of hygiene, environmental protection and animal welfare.
The parade of tractors will drive through London next Tuesday (June 13) culminating a celebrity lunch featuring TV chef Anthony Worrall Thompson.
On the same day farmers will go into supermarkets to tell consumers about the logo and hand out leaflets, postcards, stickers and flags.
The kitemark will be found a range of food from fruit and vegetables to fresh meat and poultry.
Major stores carrying the mark include Asda, Co-op, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons Safeway, Sainsburys Somerfield, Tesco and Waitrose.
NFU president Ben Gill said: “This is the most exciting development in the British food chain in recent years.
“From next Tuesday when people go into shops they will see food that is marked with a clear logo that shows the high production standards that lie behind the food they buy.
“Farmers will be working with their customers to ensure that more and more food items carry the logo.”
However, since it was announced at the Downing Street farming summit in March, the logo has been the subject of controversy.
In a straw poll conducted by Farmers Weekly some shoppers thought the F-shaped logo was promoting French produce.
John Thorley, chief executive of the National Sheep Association, complained that the tractor was an inappropriate symbol for his sector.
And Hugh Crabtree, campaign co-ordinator for the National Pig Association, said the tractor on the kitemark looked like it was made from Lego.