Red Tractor’s False Advertising
This week the Advertising Standards Authority finally ruled that Red Tractor – the UK’s largest farm assurance scheme – misled the public about its environmental standards.
I broke the Red Tractor story in The Times over two years ago – revealing that the Environment Agency found Red Tractor farms were more likely to break environmental regulations than farms who weren’t part of the assurance scheme.
Yet Red Tractor’s adverts say: “When the Red Tractor’s there, your food’s farmed with care”.
River Action filed a complaint of false advertising in the wake of my story and has been awaiting this ruling ever since.
River Action Chair Charles Watson said, “Red Tractor’s claims aren’t just misleading – they provide cover for farms breaking the law”.
Rather than defend its record, Red Tractor now seems to be rowing back from claiming any environmental benefits. Red Tractor CEO Jim Mosley even told the BBC that he doesn’t know if his farms are complying with environmental law.
River Action is now calling on supermarkets to act on agricultural pollution. They can’t hide behind the Red Tractor label because it gives no assurance that even basic environmental standards are being met. The question now is: what will replace it? Is there a label that consumers and nature-friendly farmers could trust?