SIR – The Channel 4 programme Jamie Saves Our Bacon was a masterclass in deception.
The show focused on condemning overseas pig production systems with no mention that the most common UK system – intensive farming – keeps pregnant sows incarcerated in crates for four weeks at a time; that pigs are forced to live in utterly barren pens with no enrichment or bedding; and that these intelligent animals are denied everything that makes life tolerable.
On the show, Mr Oliver (pictured above) decried the use of the dry sow stall in other countries with no mention that British farmers fought hard to keep this barbaric contraption in the UK.
And farmers complained about lower standards overseas without admitting that some profit from sending live pigs to countries like China where there are no animal protection laws at all.
Jamie Oliver has sold the animals short but has, no doubt, advanced his career. Readers interested in seeing shocking footage from Animal Aid’s eight-month investigation into leading pig farm operators in the country should visit animalaid.org.uk.
Kate Fowler, head of campaigns, Animal Aid, The Old Chapel, Bradford Street, Tonbridge, Kent TN9 1AW
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