Strong message on 'Pig Business'

Pig Business, produced by eco-campaigner Tracy Worcester, takes aim at large scale pig production in America and Europe and calls for a return to common sense farming.

The former actress and model, whose husband, the Marquis of Worcester, will inherit the Badminton estate in Gloucestershire from his father the Duke of Beaufort, will be at the City Screen in York on Tuesday to take part in a Q&A afterwards, as those behind the film launch a campaign to press for more accurate labelling of food on the shelves of UK retailers.

Their "No Porkies Just Honest Labelling" campaign will highlight the level of cheap foreign imports passed off as British.

Current loopholes allow food produced and reared abroad to be labelled as British even though it has only been packaged or processed here.

The Yorkshire Post has been running its Clearly British campaign for the past two years to press for a level playing field for British farmers who have to compete with food inaccurately labelled as British, which has been produced far more cheaply and to poorer standards than those required in the UK.

The campaign has enjoyed much success so far, with all three major political parties recognising the importance of accurate labelling and the Tories launching their own Honest Food crusade to end the practices. Retailers such as Waitrose have also given assurances they will only label British food as being British.

Pig Business shows how intensive factory style farming abroad is putting cheap imports on our shelves and calls for a return to more sustainable farming practices.

It is being shown in conjunction with Slow Food North Yorkshire, a campaigning group that wants to increase awareness of the importance of local food and the destructive impact intensive farming has on environments.

Liz Merryweather, of Slow Food North Yorkshire, said: "We were made aware of the film which we know tries to raise awareness of where our food comes from and the impact it has on the environment of those that produce it.

"We have worked with Pig Business and City Screen to try and drum interest and educate members of the public about just where it is their food actually comes from.

"The documentary shows the most intensive farming practices in Poland and the effect this has on the community and animals, as well as the effect it has in Britain, with its impact on farmers here. It highlights the labelling issue wherein consumers do not really know where the meat they are eating comes from and the low prices that we pay for this cheap imported pork."

Ms Merryweather said she hoped farmers from across Yorkshire would attend the screening and participate in the discussions afterwards

"It is not about shocking people into becoming vegetarian – it is about raising awareness and supporting local producers.

"I think we are going some way towards that. The approval stamp is appearing on more and more foods but there is still a long way to go. Supermarkets are here to stay but if we can just drum a bit more support for local suppliers and farm shops then it will mean less food miles and help achieve greater balance in the market place."

A spokeswoman for the Pig Business campaign said: "We were at Badminton Horse Trials last week – asking 'Do You Support British Farmers?' and 90 per cent said they did.

"However, on self-reported shopping habits, only 50 per cent said they knew enough about labelling to be able to choose to support British farmers."

The screening will be of particular interest given that Yorkshire is one of the one of the UK's principal pork producing regions. It will be shown at 8.30pm on Tuesday, call 0871 704 2054 for further information.