Doing our bit to fight illegal imports and protect British food as Christmas comes closer.

I have to share with you the content of an article in a recent Farmer’s Weekly on the grim discovery at the port of Dover.
Twenty-two lorries, originating from Eastern Europe, were found with illegal meat imports in 21 of the vehicles entering the UK.
Now you might think what is wrong with that?
Well firstly, the raw meat was in carrier bags, holdalls and second-hand cardboard boxes, with no temperature control or labelling of contents.

It was also being stored in the same area as ready to eat produce – destined to be sold at markets and independent stores in Britain; dangerous doesn’t even cover it.
What I find so infuriating is that if we, as British farmers or caterers, did anything like that we would be prosecuted and plastered all over the news!
We have strict rules in our catering kitchens, butcheries and on farms here in England, so why are our border controls and customs not properly checking more of what is coming into our country?

Our British pork producers have had a terrible time, not only with soaring production costs and a severe lack of abattoirs, but also the threats of the deadly African Swine fever coming in with all this imported meat.
The UK pig industry has a huge problem with the lack of abattoirs, especially here in the South West. Labour costs are higher here than in Europe and our animal welfare standards are much higher so we can’t produce food as cheaply as other countries either on our farms or in our restaurants, but we know what we are eating has good provenance.
We are up against barriers at all turns and the Government are doing nothing to help and letting dangerous food into our country all at the same time.

I certainly don’t want to eat or serve anything but English meat and once again this story highlights the need for us all to read the labels and look at the origin of our food.
These are just some of the reasons that we set up Love Local Trust Local. We need to trust the food we eat and support the people providing it here in our own communities and counties, it’s so essential to protect the future of British food.

Barbara Cossins
Love Local Trust Local