An ad-van will tour the country setting off from the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester where it will also be part of the city’s Food and Drink Festival.

The nine day trip will take in several iconic landmarks such as the Angel of the North, stop off at Morrisons HQ, The Eden Project and digger firm JCB in Staffordshire before heading to Cardiff. Its final destination will be Angelus, a French restaurant in London, where owner Thierry Tomasin, who is passionate about sourcing British produce, will become the first restaurateur to sign the Back British Farming Charter.

The Charter was launched last month to highlight a decline in the country’s self-sufficiency and is aiming to reverse that trend and increase the proportion of food consumed which is produced here. More than 1,400 people have already signed up including Waitrose, The Cooperative and celebrity chef James Martin.

NFU Vice President Adam Quinney said: “We have had a fabulous response to the Back British Farming campaign so far, with great support from MPs, supermarkets and from members of the public.

“The ad-van will be launched shortly before our fringe event at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester and will head to all parts of the country – it’s the perfect way to spread our back British farming messages even further in the hope of encouraging more people to sign up to our Charter.

“British farmers and growers invest huge amounts of time, effort and resource to produce quality food which complies with standards that set them apart from other global producers. To produce more food producers need the support of politicians, retailers, restaurants and food processors to allow them to do their job. Our Charter calls for a commitment to put British farming at the heart of feeding our nation.”

You can follow the Back British Farming tour on our interactive map here.