Farmers roast Tesco for ‘demonising meat’ in advert

THE National Farmers Union (NFU) has accused Tesco of “demonising meat” in an advert that shows a young girl telling her father that she no longer wants to eat animals.

Minette Batters, the NFU’S president, said the supermarket’s Food Love Stories commercial had caused “significant distress” for British farmers.

The ad shows a father and daughter cooking “Carl’s ‘all-change’ casserole” with Tesco’s new vegan sausages.

In the ad, she says forlornly: “Daddy, I don’t want to eat animals anymore.”

The dad replies: “I blooming love my meat. But not as much as I love my little girl. That’s why we’ve made some changes to our old favourite.”

But Ms Batters said the conversations around meat are driving Britain’s farmers to the brink.

A statement on the NFU’S website said the organisation had “significant concerns with the language used within the advert and how it has caused significant distress for British farmers”.

It went on: “The NFU believes that messaging such as this is demonising meat as a food group.

“Meat as a food group is naturally rich in protein and is a good source of iron, zinc and essential vitamins.

“There are certain parts of the population, especially teenage girls, who are currently not eating sufficient quantities of these micro-nutrients to fulfil their dietary requirement.”

A Tesco spokesman said: “Our Food Love Stories celebrate recipes both with meat and without. For those customers looking to eat a little less meat, our Plant Chef range offers a delicious, affordable alternative. We remain absolutely committed to working in partnership with all our UK farmers.”

‘Parts of the population are currently not eating sufficient quantities of these micro-nutrients’