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Farming Today: Farming Today This Week

Farming Today This Week

02/04/2011

BBC Radio 4 - Farming Today, Farming Today This Week

Charlotte Smith asks if protected name status for food and drink is worth having.

'Fenland celery' and 'watercress' are some of the latest applicants to have protected name status from the EU. Charlotte Smith asks how much value these titles have.

Melton Mowbray pork pies, Stilton cheese and the Cumberland sausage are among the 40 UK products which carry protected name status from the European Union. Strict criteria are set on the area or way in which the food or drink is made. A further 44 UK products are applying and the Government wants even more producers to bid for it. 

Charlotte Smith looks at just how valuable such titles are. Although a Cornish Pasty might be well-known, she asks if customers are as fussed if their celery is 'Fenland' or their ale 'Kentish'. She visits a farm in Oxfordshire to see why their Gloucestershire Old Spots Pork is 'Traditionally Farmed' and to ask if customers know the difference or even care. 

Meanwhile growers are trying to get protected status for 'watercress'. So what will farmers who grow the leaves in soil use on their labels?

Presented by Charlotte Smith and produced by Anne-Marie Bullock.

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