BRITISH food and farming was championed at an Evesham supermarket to launch Red Tractor Week.
Vale farmers rolled up in tractors on the town’s Tesco store’s car park on Monday (September 14) to officially launch the week long campaign of promoting local produce and agriculture.
The National Farmers Union (NFU) set up stalls to encourage shoppers to pick ‘Red Tractor’ logo produce and talk about the work they do to get British food from field to fork.
NFU dairy board chairman, Rob Harrison, was on hand to assure Red Tractor products confirm independent assessors have checked that British food and drink meets comprehensive standards, relating to traceability, animal welfare, food safety, hygiene and environmental protection.
Michael Tinton, contractor at RC Tinton and Son in Bretforton – who supplied the tractors at the event – said: “It’s been really interesting to see what our customers have to say about the industry and it’s great to see them backing British and the Red Tractor.
“People seem to be supportive and I’d like to thank them for that and hope to see them buying more British produce when they can.”
Store manager, Nick Dawe said: “We are proud to support British agriculture by buying more of its produce than any other retailer and through projects like the Tesco Sustainable Dairy Group, which makes sure farmers get a fair price for their milk.
“The farmers that were here were helping our customers find out more about where their food comes from, including how – by looking for the Red Tractor on packaging – they can be sure they’re buying British products.”
Tesco community champion, Vicki Anderson said: “It has been a great opportunity to spend some time with our local farmers, hearing about how they take pride in their work and enjoy their job.
“Farming is exhausting but these British Farmers still get up every morning and our customers continue to give them support. A great way to spend an afternoon.”
Farmers are also being urged to get involved in the campaign through social media, using #trustthetractor to tell consumers what they do and why supporting Red Tractor is so important.
Visit www.redtractor.org.uk/get-involved for more information.
