Walk The Pork - The Minister

This year we held ‘Walk The Pork’ as part of The Brecks Food Festival – a three day event that takes place as part of the wider Norfolk Food Festival over the third weekend in September. It is an opportunity for everyone in The Becks to showcase their skills from ‘farm to fork’ and is supported by many local businesses including The Elveden Estate & Heygates  Farms.

We were delighted to welcome The Right Hon Elizabeth Truss who as well as being Secretary of State for  The Environment, Food & Rural Affairs is also our local M.P. Liz has taken a keen interest in The Brecks Food Festival since she was elected in 2010, recognising its significance in promoting both food & tourism in the local economy.

She kindly agreed to speak at Walk The Pork as the opening event of The 2014 Brecks Food Festival.

‘It is fantastic to be here again at Walk The Pork. I remember the first year that I was invited along. It was an incredibly hot day and I was amazed to walk into a field and find as well as some black pigs the most fantastic pork and bacon products on offer.

The pigs that you have here are a very rare breed producing a fatter meat which is I believe is coming back into fashion as tastes change - they certainly produce fantastic meat. Since that first walk I have seen The Black Pig being sold in many local shops, cafes and restaurants. Yours is a great success story and is part of the wider success story of The Brecks.  We have The Brecks Food Festival that Vanessa Scott of Strattons Hotel has been so instrumental in making happen to showcase other great Brecks produce such as The Norfolk Peer potato which anyone can now buy in their local supermarket.  In season we also have fantastic asparagus produced in the Brecks. I think that what the festival is doing is helping people understand the connection with the landscape, it is a incredibly unusual landscape with amazing bio-diversity which co-exists with really fantastic products that people want to enjoy and eat.

I am pretty obsessed with local food. It’s a great movement which is helping people connect with the environment and nature as well as our history.  It is great that the festival is going from strength to strength. It is good for tourism and raising the profile of The Brecks.

As DEFRA Minister I am very open to ideas about what we can do to promote sustainable agriculture,  to make sure in Britain we are eating our indigenous food, our fabulous local food as well as getting the opportunity to export as well.’