Jamie Oliver highlights plight of UK pig industry

In the 90-minute programme, Oliver, who previously declared war on battery-fed chickens and the poor quality of school dinners, attempts to get viewers to buy British pork.

"On its knees"
aid that the British pig industry is "on its knees" because so much pork was imported from EU countries with lower welfare standards.

He said: "We showed that if you give consumers the facts about chicken welfare they will make up their own minds and the sales of higher welfare chickens and eggs have gone through the roof as a result. Now I want to see if we can do the same for pigs. Pork is our second favourite meat, but the British pig industry is on its knees.

Level playing field
"Our farmers say that 70% of the pork we import is from countries with lower welfare standards than ours and would have been illegal to produce here. All our farmers want is a level playing field with Europe. ...The support of the British public, as well as government and retailers, is critical in deciding the future, possibly the very survival, of our pig industry."

Channel 4 head of programming Julian Bellamy said: "The starting point for Jamie is to tell the viewers exactly what happens from farm to fork for a pig, from pig to sausage."

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