Lincoln butcher Kenny Roberts from Elite Meats in the Bailgate proudly displays his Lincolnshire bangers
— Updated on May 17 with comments from Lincolnshire Sausage Association and Tastes of Lincolnshire
A bid to ensure Lincolnshire Sausages are produced solely in the county was rejected this week by DEFRA.
The Lincolnshire Sausage Association made a bid for Protected Geographic Indication (PGI) in Europe to protect the traditional recipe.
This would mean no other butcher or company outside of Lincolnshire would be able to produce the famous sausage.
The Lincolnshire Sausage Association argue that supermarkets and other brands outside the county are altering the recipe too much.
Additionally, it could also bring extra tourism to the county to taste a true Lincolnshire banger.
The application has been under decision by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for the past two years.
Many variations of the recipe
DEFRA said it declined the application due to its potential to put too many jobs at risk.
Food and Farming Minister Jim Paice said: “British food is outstanding and we’re working hard to protect the local heritage of certain foods through PGI status.
“But with so many variations on the recipe, and 95% of sausages sold under the ‘Lincolnshire Sausage’ label being made outside the county, the application as it stood could have seriously damaged businesses and jobs.
“We remain open to looking at other options which would allow producers in Lincolnshire to highlight the traditional and local nature of their sausages without potentially damaging the overwhelming majority of manufacturers.”
A true Lincolnshire sausage is at least 70% pork meat, coarsely cut and mixed with rusk breadcrumbs and sage, packed in natural casings.
Too much emphasis on recipe
— Update 2: The Lincolnshire Sausage Association (LSA) said in a statement it is “devastated” to hear of Defra’s rejection of the application for PGI status.
“The LSA has spent a considerable amount of time and effort into making sure the application complied with the requirements of the articles and feel that insufficient account has been taken of all the evidence provided.
“Too much emphasis has been placed on the recipe rather than the method of production. In particular, no account seemed to have been taken of the coarseness of the mincing process which gives the true Lincolnshire sausage its bite and too much has been made of the ‘predominance of sage’.
“It appears that Defra has capitulated to large scale commercial producers, some of whom openly admit to putting no meat into their product.
“What a pity, at a time when Jim Paice is leading a delegation to China to promote our pork products to them, that he could not support one of Britain’s most iconic products, namely the Lincolnshire Sausage.
“The LSA does not believe that Defra has taken sufficient account of the strong support of the Lincolnshire people.
“Too much credence has been placed on the objectors’ claims, many of which were accredited to unnamed producers who had not objected to our application.
“Defra has failed to recognise the damage that so-called ‘Lincolnshire Sausage’ made by large manufacturers outside of the county is doing to the reputation of the genuine article.
“Support for this application from Defra would have helped to boost well over 150 small to medium enterprises in Lincolnshire – not just butchers but tourism in the county.
“We are sad and disappointed with this response and will be taking legal advice as to our next steps. We have only 10 working days to respond so we must act quickly.”
— Update 1: Tastes of Lincolnshire said in a statement: “The Lincolnshire sausage is an iconic and hugely important product for our county and we are so disappointed that it did not get the recognition it deserves and the protected geographical indication status.
“We are also hugely disappointed for our members who work tirelessly to promote provenance, food credibility and quality and contribute so much to the Lincolnshire economy.
“There may be slight variations on recipes but the importance of the individual ingredients and their inherent connection to Lincolnshire is clear.
“You only have to look at the prominence of this great Lincolnshire delicacy from our food fairs and farmers markets to our thriving autumn Sausage Festival to know that we put the sizzle into sausages.
“The Lincolnshire Sausage Association must be commended for their unstinting hard work in maintaining the profile of the product and this campaign.”
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A pair of anti-vaxxers have decided to temporarily stop sharing conspiracy theories on Facebook and stage a protest at a roundabout in Lincoln instead.
The duo were spotted on the Riseholme roundabout on the A15 on Friday afternoon, armed with misinformation signs that appear to suggest England’s Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty has an “evil agenda”.
The protest signs appeared to be against child vaccinations, which suggests that the UK’s Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation were against young people being jabbed, despite a statement in July saying the Pfizer dose had been authorised for use in people aged 12 and over.
They seem to be at loggerheads with Lincolnshire’s own Jonathan Van-Tam, none other than England’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer, who urged people this week to “trust professionals, not Instagram” as fake propaganda posted on social media is being attributed to vaccine hesitancy.
Another sign held up spouts rhetoric about heart problems from the COVID-19 vaccine, while a third notice shows children with masks on and reads: “Is this the future we want for our kids?”
For reference, in case you cannot make it to the Lincolnshire Showground for your vaccination, there will be a free shuttle bus service to take you to and from the jab site starting next week. Read more here.
Up to 86% of adults in Lincolnshire are double-jabbed, and over 25% of 12-15-year-olds.
A special lights show celebrating Lincolnshire’s plants will take place at Boultham Park on Saturday.
The Lincspirational Lightshow will start at 5.30pm on October 23 after the original event was postponed earlier this month due to the weather forecast.
The free show is the final of event of Lincolnshire Wildlife Trusts’ LoveLincsPlants project.
The evening will feature a lightshow parade, artwork projects, park illuminations and music inspired by nature from Sinfonia Viva. During the event the 30 artworks created by the public will be projected onto a large screen.
There will also be an opportunity to bid on the 130 artworks submitted as part of the exhibition. They will be available via an online action, with the 30 winning pieces starting at £40.
The evening will feature a lightshow parade, artwork projects, park illuminations, and more. | Photo: Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust
The money raised from the sale of the artworks will help fund nature’s recovery in Lincolnshire. It will also help the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust create wildflower rich habitats across the county.
Lincolnshire County Council’s Labour Group will call on the Conservative-led authority to rethink its policy of turning off street lights in built-up areas overnight.
The present situation, introduced in 2016, means that most street lights in Lincolnshire are turned off at midnight, as the council said in March this year that lighting has “no impact” on night-time crime levels.
This statement came after a petition signed by over 5,000 people demanded that street lights were kept on overnight following the death of Sarah Everard in London this year.
The response to Sarah Everard’s death was one of concern for women’s safety, to which the council responded by saying “women’s safety is about much more than street lights.”
A memorial for Sarah Everard in Lincoln on university campus. | Photo: The Lincolnite
More than half of Lincolnshire’s street lights were turned off in 2016 as the council looked to save £1.7 million, and despite the petition and concerns raised, just one parish council asked for lights to be switched back on in 12 months, according to the county’s highways chief.
Now Kev Clarke, Labour County Councillor for Boultham Division in Lincoln and member of Lincolnshire County Council Highways Scrutiny Committee, will be raising the issue at the next meeting on Monday, October 25.
He will be calling for a review of LCC’s street lighting policy, and asking for the council to consider the possibility of keeping the lights on overnight.
Councillor Clarke argues: “After recent sad events – attacks on females – a lot of people feel unsafe and anxious when walking home at night when the county is plunged into darkness at midnight.
“Lincoln is being promoted as a university city with young people leaving home for the first time and moving to Lincoln to study here and gain a first class education. Wonder if the parents were told that lights go off, if so they may look at other locations for their children.
“To boost our local economy we want to attract visitors to Lincoln to visit not only as day–trippers, but to stay over for longer periods to enjoy the benefits of the city and county – one of which is not the turning off of the lights.
“Labour County Councillors are not alone in this plea to Lincolnshire County Council to review the current street lighting policy particularly in Lincoln before it’s too late. Students at the University of Lincoln also want to see changes to the current policy.”
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