A total of 14 young farmers are leading the campaign. Co-op Farming Pioneers will be taking part and the National Federation of Young Farmers' Clubs is supporting.
Activities kick off this spring with a ‘My name is…’ social media campaign in the build-up to Easter, the next major food shopping decision-making time for consumers. Love British Food is calling upon young farmers to post a photograph of themselves and their farm on Twitter and Instagram saying simply what they produce and highlighting the high standard they adhere to. Using the hook ‘My name is…’ and hashtags #BritishFoodisGreat #LoveBritishFood, the aim is to make the link between farmers, food producers and top quality British food. Celebrity farmers are being invited to post ‘My name is…’ messages in support.
Richard Bower, the youngest ever candidate for vice president at the NFU and a young farmer from Staffordshire, said: “I am incredibly passionate about British food and farming and really looking forward to encouraging other young farmers to shout about what they are doing around the UK. We should all be proud to be involved with the British food industry and this campaign will really help promote what we do.”
The campaign extends into the autumn when young farmers will be challenged to solely promote British food during British Food Fortnight, running September 22 to October 7. This could be as simple as posting a tweet or displaying a banner at farm gate; or, for the more ambitious, standing outside food shops on the high street or by meat aisles or in supermarket car parks wearing ‘British Food is Great’ t-shirts and explaining to people why they should buy British; visiting their local school to give a talk; or helping a local establishment, such as their local pub, set up a new British supply chain.