Red Tractor turkey

[NAB3hundredbaubles]

What does the red tractor symbol mean please? Getting a bit worried I have bought a turkey that has been unkindly reared/farmed (even though it was pretty dear.) Wish I had gone with my instincts and waited to find one that said free range now.

here

a good thing I think.

this bit specifically

Basically it means it's come from a British farm.

(Although I read ages ago that it only had to have been at that British farm for something like 6 weeks in order to qualify for the tractor.)

"resonates more with today's consumer"
"Brand new communications strategy"

That's been written by a bunch of Tristrams, for sure!

Can't find anything about that now but they had this on the BBC Food site:

"The 'Red Tractor' symbol is part of a voluntary scheme. Birds with the symbol meet assurance standards, guaranteeing the health of the flocks and food safety, and that chickens have been reared to a minimum welfare standard."

(That's chickens but I assume turkeys will be the same. Anyway it's dead now, NAB )

So was it a happy turkey with a good life and not factory farmed like the 2 for a ficer chickens??

Well, you see, it's so hard to tell if a turkey is happy - they don't laugh or crack jokes - they just mill around going gobblegobblegobble.

So let's say yes

...

if it doesnt say then it will be a battery bird

we have some nasty cruel turkey farms here in britain sadly

I really wish you hadn't posted that.

tesco put on theirs something like grown on a farm which meets the standards tesco expectys

which means bugger all really

If I had known the co-op had so many in I would have waited. Hubby wanted to get it as was worried we wouldn't get another chance. I don't want to eat it now. Has spoilt it for me.

Have emailed through the link on throckenholt's post to ask, once and for all.

it is not the end of the world

I would rather have a British bird that has been raised here than ship in something from somewhere else

the tractor symbol was invented to make sure that British farms were identifiable and was one of teh ways that the farming industry tried to recover from the BSE crisis

I did a lot of work with farmers around that time and the smaller farmers do need a break so don't feel too bad about it

in future it's worth remembering that beef and lamb are usually very well treated and practically free range in this country anyway so the tractor symbol is a really good bet for red meat

Oh, I know. It is just I try and buy organic when I can and it not the free range stuff, but an organic turkey was £35 and that is too much ££££ and too big for us all to eat.

we do the best we can; perfection is a dizzy dream few can actually attain

I once did hear the Goddess Nigella say "Well, I'm a city girl, so I don't care where my meat comes from"

so you are better than her

enjoy your turkey

Thanks!

So not anywhere close to perfection, nor trying to be.

Had this response from them.