There’s hardly a food festival or agricultural show in the country that doesn’t include a stall run by a group of women wearing straw hats and dressed in red who are handing out samples of pork.

They are members of Ladies in Pigs. Their aim in attending these events is to convince us to buy pork bearing the little red tractor logo, which signifies that the product is British and not just packed or sliced over here.

They also carry out demonstrations, offer sampling services within supermarkets as well as judging at butcher’s pork product evaluation event.

And they demonstrate pork cookery at schools, concentrating on urban areas, something which has now become deliberate policy and will continue.

There are 300 members nationwide, 60 of whom are active members such as those who attended the Witney Food Festival a couple of weeks ago and handed out delicious pork sausages to passing visitors.

The members are a mix of producers, producers’ wives and women with a passion for British pork who are not necessarily connected with farming.

The chairman, Sue Woodall, who is a butcher’s daughter, says the active members travel the country taking on any task to publicise their cause.

It all began 22 years ago, with a small group of women promoting the pork industry by handing out free bacon baps at agricultural fairs. They now get sponsorship from Bpex (The British Pig Executive) which has recently provided them with their new mobile farmhouse kitchen, which travels round the UK.

This enables the women to offer far more than bacon baps, including samples of pork and bacon dishes that are featured in their free booklet Give a Fork About Your Pork.

The booklet contains seven imaginative recipes, all tried and tested by the members which will feature in the 2013 show season.

Sue said: “All we ask is that consumers look for the Red Tractor logo when they buy their products. This is your guarantee of a high standard at every step, from the farm to the supermarket shelf as this is the only way we can know it is a quality British cut of meat.”

She said that from farm to fork there was no weak link in the Red Tractor supply chain. Individual assurance schemes not only cover pig farms and feed but also livestock transportation, the slaughtering process and the production methods for sausages, bacon, gammon and ham.

“We even have compositional standards that control the ingredients used in the curing process.”

The Red Tractor logo gives shoppers peace of mind. Unfortunately, not all supermarkets carry products bearing it.

When customers told Sainsbury’s that they found too many logos confusing they began phasing out the use of the Red Tractor logo on packaging, though they will still use the Red Tractor standards as part of their wider sourcing standards.

About 30 per cent of pigs reared in the UK are under the Freedom Food scheme, which is the only logo that tells you a product comes from pigs reared to the RSPCA’s strict welfare standards that cover a pig’s life from the moment it is born. This is the label McDonald’s switched to recently.

To carry the coveted Red Tractor pork logo, farmers must observe more than 130 standards relating to pig husbandry and welfare.

To encourage coming generations to eat British pork, Ladies in Pork gave out 30,000 copies of The Pig Issue, a children’s pack sponsored by Asda. Bearing the Red Tractor logo and aimed at primary level children, this activity book is linked with healthy eating which is now part of the school’s curriculum.

Last year, Ladies in Pigs also distributed more than 30,000 of their own recipe leaflets. The collections have now been compiled as a cookery book, on sale for £5, plus £2.50 p&p. To order a copy, visit ladiesinpigs.co.uk

Ladies in Pigs welcome new members, male or female, who have a passion for pork and want to support pig farming. For further information, call  01430 423775.