CUMBRIAN farmer Alistair Mackintosh is helping to promote a consumer marketing campaign by Red Tractor.

As chair of the Red Tractor Beef and Lamb sector, Mr Mackintosh is promoting the campaign which demonstrates the standards British beef and lamb farmers adhere to as well as the importance of red meat as part of a balanced, healthy diet. It will also put some facts around the impact of its production on the environment here in the UK – a topic that is often misrepresented.

Mr Mackintosh, said: “With so many myths surrounding the production red meat in the UK. It’s important to shine the light on the farmers who work incredibly hard to produce the best possible quality food for families, in the best possible way. Ultimately, I hope this will help alleviate unwarranted fears among consumers around red meat and provide the balanced and accurate facts so consumers can make an informed choice”.

The campaign will run digitally, aiming to inform consumers through a series of videos while encouraging them to engage directly with Red Tractor through its website and social channels.

To amplify the messages and engage with industry stakeholders, the beef and lamb episode will launch in conjunction with the AHDB’s We Eat Balanced campaign.

This is an industry-wide campaign that aims to readdress some of these issues which could misrepresent and unfairly portray the farming industry

The the face of the campaign – a working mum called Emma – will be diving into the industry that’s so important to the Cumbrian economy and landscape as she takes a look at the red meat sector.

Red Tractor CEO Jim Moseley said: “By launching our Emma episode at the same time as this campaign, we hope to saturate consumers’ media channels with positive messages about red meat farming here in the UK and counterbalance the negative attention red meat often unfairly receives.”

It also launches alongside the NFU’s 2021 Back British Farming campaign.

Jim added: “The aim is to build as much concerted support for the British beef and lamb industry as we can by creating as much noise around this campaign as possible.”

You can watch the campaign on Red Tractor’s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube channels.

See Pg 19 for more information on the campaign.

Meanwhile the UK’s leading farm assurance body, Red Tractor, is urging farmers to engage in a consultation on how its farm standards should evolve.

A consultation has opened with proposals put forward on how the standards should look across the scheme’s six sectors; beef and lamb, poultry, pigs, dairy, fresh produce and combinable crops and sugar beet.

Red Tractor is seeking input from across the industry before finalising its proposition of what the schemes standards will be from November 2021.

The proposals have been developed over 12 months.