Herefordshire Council’s animal health department has linked up with other local authorities to educate the public on how their service safeguards the food on our plates.
The Central England Trading Standards Authorities (CEnTSA), which covers Herefordshire, commissioned a DVD “Healthy and safe – a journey to your plate” to show how local authority inspectors play a leading role in animal welfare and protecting public health.
Mike Higgins, Herefordshire Council’s animal health and welfare manager, is chair of the Central England Animal Health Group and he introduced the DVD to the Trading Standards Institute (TSI) annual conference in Bournemouth recently.
He said: “The film stars Staffordshire mum Corinne Caddy and her four-year-old son, Conrad, and shows how animal health officers act to safeguard the food on our plates throughout its journey from farm to fork.
“They learn how local council inspectors guard against headline diseases such as bird flu and mad cow disease and find out how much councils do to protect animals from the farm to the plate,” he added.
Other characters – including butchers, farmers and livestock keepers – are played by real people from across the CEnTSA region, which includes Herefordshire, Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent, Birmingham, Coventry, Dudley, Sandwell, Shropshire, Solihull, Telford & Wrekin, Walsall, Warwickshire, Wolverhampton and Worcestershire.
The DVD, produced by Corinne’s public relations company Conkerzoo, is now being offered to local authorities throughout the country to highlight this aspect of their work and to educate businesses and the public.
Councillor John Jarvis, Herefordshire Council’s cabinet member for the environment and strategic housing, said: “Media interest in animal welfare, highlighted by celebrity chefs such as Jamie Oliver, Hugh Fernley-Whittingstall and Gordon Ramsey, have demonstrated the importance of animal health and welfare in the food chain.
“This DVD highlights how much is done to protect animals and our food – all the way from the farm to the plate. We use some very hi-tech methods – even DNA testing – to make sure that the animals from which our meat comes are of the quality and age that livestock keepers and meat suppliers claim. This in turn provides reassurance to the public of the product they are eating.”