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FOE WELCOMES LITTLE RED TRACTOR REVIEW

07 Nov 2001

FOE SUPPORTS AGENCY'S REVIEW OF FOOD ASSURANCE SCHEMES

Friends of the Earth welcomed today's undertaking by the Food Standards Agency to review food assurance schemes. FOE has recently been critical of the farming industry's “Little Red Tractor”labelling symbol and has campaigned for such a review to ensure that it lives up to its claims and provides genuine help to farmers and clear benefits for consumers.

Friends of the Earth believes that the “Little Red Tractor Standards” are not as exacting as consumers are led to believe, particularly on pesticides, GM and animal welfare. The NFU, however, claims that foods carrying the logo are produced “to exacting standards of food safety, kindness to animals and environmental protection” [1].

Last month, FOE wrote to Sir John Krebs (Food Standards Agency) and Alan Knight (chair of the Advisory Committee on Consumer Products and the Environment), calling for the ”Little Red Tractor”scheme to be strengthened to include[2]:

• targets for pesticide reduction and a prohibition of those pesticides with the strongest evidence of harm to human health and/or the environment;
• food which is GM free;
• food to be British and labelled to show the county or region of origin;
• livestock that is raised to standards at least equivalent to the RSPCA Freedom Foods mark.

The ACCPE has already discussed the schemes in December 2000 and commented:

"It was not clear that the schemes involved merited the claims being made... They appeared to incorporate only minimum legal requirements on the environment.

Claims of this kind could be counterproductive ... It would be in the schemes' interests for improvements to be made, to help them gain the confidence of consumers.

The existence of product labels like the Red Tractor could undermine the sort of schemes  ACCPE would like to see.” [3]

Many farmers are also not convinced of the value of such schemes:

"...farm assurance schemes are a load of old cobblers. They cost a lot of money and prove nothing” [4] Dick Lindley, Vice Chairman Wakefield National Farmers Union.

Friends of the Earth believes dramatic improvements should be made to some of the more damaging methods of agriculture [5]. A reformed labelling system could reflect genuine higher standards,providing valuable information to consumers about which food they can trust.

Adrian Bebb Real Food and Farming Campaigner for Friends of the Earth commented:    

“We support branding schemes which genuinely help farmers and consumers but it is vital that such schemes have high standards. We welcome the Food Standards Agency review of schemes such as the Little Red Tractor. We believe that given the right information consumers could lead farmers to a new agricultural revolution - providing top quality foods whilst protecting the environment and farmer's livelihoods."

Notes to Editors

1. NFU - Press Releases British Farm Standard Gears Up for Launch in Shops May 2000
   
2. Copies of the letters and press briefing are available from the Media Unit.
   
3. DEFRA Summary Note of the 10th meeting of the Advisory Committee on Consumer Products and the Environment: Thursday 7 December 2000.
   
4. Farmers Weekly 2 March 2001 Assured farms pig swill shock p 7.
   
5. Get real about food and farming, a new publication from Friends of the Earth, spells out a sustainable future for farming that will provide quality, affordable food that consumers can trust. Executive summaries can be obtained from the Media Unit.

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