Farmers and growers will champion high quality British food and drink at a series of events at supermarkets across the West Midlands, and including Leicester.
In support of Red Tractor Week, the NFU and its members will be at stores, with their tractors, to talk to shoppers about the work they do to get great tasting regional produce from field to fork.
The week start on Monday, September 14, and farmers will encourage people to look for the Red Tractor logo on-pack when they are doing their shopping.
Farmers will be at Tesco stores in Evesham and Redditch, in Worcestershire, and Uttoxeter, in Staffordshire, Aldi, in Ludlow, Shropshire, and Morrisons, in Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire.
While Rugby farmer Brian Dalby will travel to an event at Morrisons, at Freemans Park, Aylestone Road, in Leicester.
ASDA, Tesco, Morrisons, Waitrose, Cooperative, Lidl and Aldi have all signed up to support Red Tractor Week and promotional campaigns will run in-store on pre-packed branded goods, including meat and poultry, dairy, cereals and other fresh produce.
The Red Tractor logo on products confirms that independent assessors have checked that British food and drink meets comprehensive standards; these relate to traceability, animal welfare, food safety and hygiene and environmental protection.
NFU East Midlands regional director Richard Hezlet said: “Our farmers and growers provide some of the highest quality produce in the world and I would encourage everyone to look out for the Red Tractor logo when shopping, there are some great British products and ingredients just waiting to be discovered.
“Shoppers are increasingly showing their support for British farming and they are our best ally; we continue to thank them for backing the industry.”
Blur musician, cheesemaker, and Red Tractor ambassador Alex James will also appear on TV and radio stations to talk about the assured food standard and spread the word about a fantastic competition which celebrates quality British food.
Monday’s events and the one on Friday are part of a wider seven week Assured Food Standards, AFS, campaign to encourage shoppers to buy Red Tractor labelled food.
Farmers are also being encouraged to get involved through a high profile social media campaign #trustthetractor by telling consumers what they do and why supporting Red Tractor is so important.
Defra Minister George Eustice MP, said: “The Red Tractor label helps shoppers have confidence that the produce they are buying has been grown to British standards.
“British food has a global reputation for quality, traceability and great taste—our food and farming industry is worth over £100 billion and employs one in eight people.
“By choosing food labelled with the Red Tractor, shoppers are showing their support for our hard-working farmers.”
