Driving force behind #BiteIntoBritish wins Chris Brant Award

Yorkshire pig producer Anna Longthorp, one of the driving forces behind the #BiteIntoBritish campaign, has won the Chris Brant Award. 

Over the past year, Anna has done a huge amount to raise awareness of the plight facing British pig farmers and wider industry by urging consumers to 'Bite Into British' and 'Back British Farming'.

This has included developing a range of #BiteIntoBritish merchandise, including gilets, hoodies, hats and caps and more, which, with generous sponsorship from ForFarmers, Cargill & Duynie, has raised over £5,000 for farming charities.

Anna received a warm ovation when she received the accolade from her dad, Richard, a previous winner, himself, at the National Pig Awards in London. 

The award is all about going the extra mile for the pig industry. "Chris Brant was blunt, stubborn, determined and edgy but a great guy who cared passionately about the whole British Pig Industry. His glass was always half full," Richard said. 

"The judges saw those characteristics in abundance in this year’s winner. Praised for their positive, albeit forthright, attitude when appearing in or on the media, one judge said: 

“They have a positive can and will do approach to the current crisis.” He went on: “Not prepared to sit back and go down without a fight, they have been both challenging but positive and constructive, working tirelessly promoting our fantastic British pork industry.”

He highlighted how has embraced the power of social media, 'putting in the hard yards in keeping the issues and the potential solutions extensively aired, highlighted and contemporary'.

"As one judge put it: “This is not a 5 minute a day task it is full on realtime 24/7,” he added. 

"The winner has not only contributed significantly to a punchy social media campaign but, recognising their wider social responsibilities, is now busy running an initiative that the whole pig industry should be proud of and get behind."

He pointed out that 23 years on from when Chris Brant and that 'other stalwart of the pig industry', John Cusson, were presented with the very first Pig Industry Service Award, we may have: 'Different times but the same or similar issues, different approaches & tactics but the same objectives and different people but with those same core values and passion that Chris Brant displayed'. 

As he announced the winner and called her to the stage, he concluded: "Hashtag #BiteIntoBritish, #Won’tBeBeaten, #StubbornAsAMule, #FightingForFairness."