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On Your Farm

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Factual: Science & Nature: Nature & Environment

Getting to the heart of country life with a look at individual farming endeavours

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On Your Farm: 06/01/2013

06/01/2013

BBC Radio 4 - On Your Farm, 06/01/2013

Sarah Swadling investigates the benefits of getting a food product protected by the EU.

The government is encouraging more food producers to get their products protected by the EU. Sarah Swadling is mussel fishing in North Wales to learn about the benefits.

Parmesan cheese, Scottish smoked salmon, stilton, champagne are just a few examples of food and drinks which have been successful in getting their name protected by the EU, and this has given them a brand worldwide. Now there's a Government drive to encourage more producers to apply for the same status to put British food on the map. Here in the UK, there are just 47 registered products, compared to countries like France which have more than 150. So on today's On Your Farm, we are at Conwy Bay in North Wales, to look at just how difficult it is to get this protection and whether it can really transform a business. For hundreds of years in Conwy, fishermen have been using small wooden boats to hand rake wild mussels from the riverbed - a tradition which has continued despite increasing competition from farmed mussels. Conwy mussels applied for a PDO ('Protected Designation of Origin') twelve months ago and they are expecting a decision to be made within the next few months.

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06/01/2013

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