Rural disaster led to positive improvements
One anniversary that we don’t want to be reminded of is the foot and mouth outbreak in the spring of 2001.
It was a disaster for the livestock industry, and many rural businesses. But lessons were learned, and new standards were introduced.
In a parallel to the pandemic today, movement restrictions were introduced – not only for livestock, but for everyone involved in the industry, with many farmers not leaving their premises for several months in an effort to keep their farming business safe.
And where animals did leave farms, stringent recording systems were required, not least the necessity to tag each animal and record its movement, but it was also accompanied by its own passport or a movement licence to cover a group, depending on the species.
Over the intervening years these systems have been modified and improved and with the increased interest from consumers in the provenance of their food, they are now used as a marketing tool.
Improved labelling on food products now carries a wide range of information for the discerning shopper, who can be reassured when purchasing items backed by the food standards that cover so many of our products.
British food standards are among the highest in the world, and we are fortunate indeed.
Sarah Norton is a retired rural dweller living near Shrewsbury
