Meat and Livestock Commission
{{About|a British meat and livestock authority|the Australian equivalent|Meat and Livestock Australia}}
The Meat and Livestock Commission (MLC) was set up by the UK Government under the Agriculture Act 1967 with government money with the remit to promote the sale of red meat. The MLC was previously an independent non-departmental public body, but from 1 April 2008 it was superseded by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board.Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006, sections 89, 91; the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board Order 2008, article 17(1)(d).
Funding
The MLC's income derived from a levy on every slaughtered carcass with additional funding directly from the government. {{As of|2007}} it had an annual budget of £42 million for marketing and advertising The Silent Ark by Juliet Gellatley with Tony Wardle to promote meat to the British population.[http://www.viva.org.uk/campaigns/pigs/pigreport05.htm Viva! - Vegetarians International Voice for Animals] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928062116/http://www.viva.org.uk/campaigns/pigs/pigreport05.htm |date=2007-09-28 }}
Meat promotion
The MLC's remit was to "work with the British meat and livestock industry (cattle, sheep and pigs) to improve its efficiency and competitive position" and "to maintain and stimulate markets for British meat at home and abroad, while taking into account the needs of consumers." [http://www.mlc.org.uk/aboutMLC/default.asp Meat and Livestock Commission]
In 2000 alone, the MLC and the Government jointly funded a £4.6 million ad campaign to promote British pig meat.
Controversy
In 2006 the British arm of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) unveiled a poster {{cite web |url=http://www.peta.org.uk/feat/buttons/240-FeedngKidsAd.jpg |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2007-05-30 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070206022134/http://www.peta.org.uk/feat/buttons/240-FeedngKidsAd.jpg |archivedate=2007-02-06 }} linking eating meat with child abuse.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/5415564.stm BBC NEWS | England | Poster links meat and child abuse] The MLC branded the poster "irresponsible". However, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) agreed that PETA can continue to place ads expressing this point of view.,[http://www.peta.org.uk/feat/feat-feedingkids.asp PETA UK >> Feat >> ASA Agrees: PETA Can Take Parents to Task for Feeding Kids Meat] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070510203040/http://www.peta.org.uk/feat/feat-FeedingKids.asp |date=2007-05-10 }} stating that “While we recognised that some viewers would find the text used in the ad inappropriate, we understood that PETA had intended to convey that, in their opinion, feeding meat to children, and thereby exposing them to potentially harmful influences, was tantamount to abuse”.
See also
Notes
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External links
- {{Official website|http://www.mlcsl.co.uk/}}
{{Agriculture in the United Kingdom}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Category:Agricultural organisations based in the United Kingdom
Category:1967 establishments in the United Kingdom
Category:2008 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
Category:Organizations established in 1967