Melton Mowbray

Case Study: Melton Mowbray, UK

Introduction

The small town of Melton Mowbray, situated in the county of Leicestershire, is particularly well known for a variety of pork pie baring the same name and, perhaps less famously, it is one of the traditional homes of Stilton cheese.  Not being in the vicinity of any instantly recognisable border (county boundaries aside), what is interesting in terms of the borderwork project: research looking into the ability of citizens to participate in the making of borders and the empowerment that can result from this bordering activity, is that both foods are geographically protected and can only be produced within a designated area.  Stilton Cheese currently has Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), and the famous Melton Mowbray pork pie has Protected Geographical Indication (PGI).  While both standards are similar there is slight variation.  PDO status for example requires foods to be produced, processed and prepared exclusively within the specified geographic area using specialist know how, while PGI status requires foodstuffs to be closely linked to a specific area with at least one of the preparation stages taking place within the designated boundary. Both geographical indicators require preparation and processing of the foodstuff to adhere to strict standards, rooted firmly in local tradition.

The Melton Mowbray pork pie was designated full PGI status in 2008 after an arduous nine-year long application process, Stilton gaining PDO status in 1996 when the European geographic indication scheme was still in its infancy.  The main thrust of this report will mostly concentrate on the most recent application process-Melton Mowbray pork pies-through the lens of the borderwork project and will seek to answer the following questions:

1.    What was the rationale behind the delineation of the ‘pork pie’ PGI boundary, and who was performing the borderwork?

2.    Who is empowered and disempowered by the creation of this boundary?

3.    What implications do such ‘new borders’ pose for the wider UK and EU geographic and political landscape?

The first section will focus on the events, debates and rational leading up to the ‘drawing of the line’ around the town of Melton Mowbray that effectively demarcates where the pies can be produced and how they are made.  Leading on from this, in what will already be somewhat apparent, the second section will focus on the empowerment and disempowerment of ordinary people involved in the bordering process. The third section will look at the idea of ‘new borders’ and the impact and influence they may exert on other, more traditional, borders.  Crucial here, are questions relating to who creates and maintains these new borders, for what reasons and to the detriment of whom.

Drawing the line

The process that would eventually lead to the formation of the boundary surrounding Melton, a process that would effectively criminalise the right to label pork pies as ‘Melton Mowbray’ outside the designated area, began in 1998 and ended in April 2008.  The arduous and lengthy process cannot simply be put down to the laborious nature of the EU application procedure however, as many legal objections were filed and fought over in the British courts by those producers that would fall outside of the boundary, a turn of events that underlies the importance and consequences such boundary constructions can have.

What is interesting, then, in terms of borderwork as well as this chapter, is where in relation to the town of Melton the boundary line was drawn and, of course, the rationale behind its location.  This section will seek to chronicle the rationale and implementation of the PGI boundary and in so doing highlight the importance and indeed politics behind the creation of these ‘new’ borders.  It will highlight how the new border surrounding Melton, emanating from the EU, is rooted in local geography, history and politics.

The boundary makers

Consisting predominately of producers, the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association (MMPA) formed in 1998 to pursue the goal of establishing protected geographic indication (PGI) status for Melton Mowbray pork pies.  The local Newspaper, the Melton Times, reported that ’10 years ago’:

‘Food Ministry officials from London, enthusiasts, local politicians and trading standards officers were all present at a meeting at the council offices outlining the campaign’s objectives and goals. The meeting was a spearhead in the creation of the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association’.

Now that PGI status has been granted, the association will manage and monitor standards of production.  According to their official website the rationale for applying is/was as follows:

Melton Mowbray Porkpie Association (MMPA): ‘In gaining PGI status for the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie, the Association aims to:

1.    Protect the integrity of the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie and resist its denigration at the hands of manufacturers outside the Melton area,         thereby ensuring its survival.
2.    Protect the consumer from being misled about the provenance and quality of Melton Mowbray Pork Pies.
3.    Promote the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie so that as many people as possible are able to try this famous regional food.
4.    Encourage growth and investment in the rural economy through promotion to the consumer of the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie as the             guaranteed and genuine article.
5.    Protect the good name of the town of Melton Mowbray and therefore protect its important tourist economy.
6.    Reinforce the credentials of Melton Mowbray as the heart of an important rural economy.
7.    Protect the jobs and investment dependant on the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie.
8.    Promote our rural region and fine food heritage through the ongoing support of the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie.
9.    Support the wider initiative to recognise the importance of regional foods’.

Note the language used here, particularly in the choice of active verbs.  In other  words, the border, created by PGI status supports, protects, reinforces, encourages, and promotes the town of Melton Mowbray and its surrounding area, as well as ‘protecting’ the majority of consumers that reside elsewhere, beyond the boundary itself.

The association (originally seven) consists of the following producers under the chairmanship of Melton Borough and Leicester County Councillor Matthew O’Callaghan:

1.    F Bailey and Son, of Melton Mowbray.
2.    Brockleby’s Farm Shop, of Melton Mowbray.
3.    Chappell’s Fine Foods, of Leicester.
4.    Dickinson and Morris, of Melton Mowbray (owned by Samworth Brothers, a national company and most dominant and influential             member of the group).
5.    Mrs Elizabeth King Ltd, of Nottingham.
6.    Nelsons, of Stamford.
7.    Northfield Farm, of Rutland.
8.    Patricks, of Leicester.
9.    Walkers (Charnwood) Bakery, of Leicester.

In leading the campaign for PGI, Matthew O’Callaghan has been particularly vocal in the national press.  For example, speaking in the Independent dated 31st July 2004, he states:

Matthew O’Callaghan: ‘…every food should be judged on its merits. I believe our application is a turning point for British food. We must protect regional food; otherwise large manufacturers can plunder food inheritance, change recipes and deliver a substandard product’.

And on the BBC News website in 2004, he states:

Matthew O’Callaghan: ‘…it is clear that, if we do not act to protect the product, consumers will become increasingly misled and confused as to the authenticity of the ‘Melton Mowbray’ pork pie they are buying’.

The boundary rationale and its opponents

Many of Matthew O’Callaghan’s comments were spoken in relation to the ongoing dispute with other food manufacturers regarding where the line fell, the rationale behind it and if it should be drawn at all.  In this respect the argument, put forward by Northern Foods, pointed out that while Matthew O’Callaghan seemed to champion the small ‘artisan’ producer against large ‘national’ producers under a rhetoric of localism and traditionalism, Samworth Brothers, who are a leading light in the MMPPA, are themselves a large national producer of Melton Mowbray pork pies and provide 99% of the MMPPA’s product output.  Other arguments concerned the boundary demarcation more specifically.

The original boundary was defined, according to the MMPPA, as ‘no more than a day’s travel (by horse) from Melton Mowbray across routes with no tolls’, which caused complications for the PGI application as many ‘traditional’ producers fell outside this area.  Indeed the official publication of the Melton Mowbray PGI application states:

Official Journal of the EU: ‘Extensive research by a local historian has demonstrated that during the early and middle 19th century when the pies were first being produced on a commercial basis geographical and economic barriers would have limited production of the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie to the town of Melton Mowbray and its surrounding district’.

Saxby Brothers, a leading producer of ‘Melton Mowbray’ porkpies at the time raised concern.  In a letter to the industry magazine the Grocer dated May 2003, a family member of the Saxby family stated:

Saxby Family Member: ‘we are under attack from people who should really be our allies. These people make up the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association (MMPPA) of which O’Callaghan is chairman. Its attempt to create, under EC regulations, Protected Geographical Indication status for this product will, if successful, prevent Saxbys from continuing to market our main product, simply because our factory happens to fall outside a new arbitrary and artificial boundary’.

Saxby Brothers had been producing ‘Melton Mowbray’ porkpies in the same area to the MMPPA standards since 1904.  The family member goes on to say:

Saxby Family Member: ‘where we massively take issue with the MMPPA is the matter of geographical location. Melton Mowbray Pies have been legally and properly produced and marketed over the last hundred years throughout the East Midlands, including Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire (they have also been produced in other parts of the country). 
There is no possible justification, in terms of the quality, taste, locally sourced ingredients, method or any other characteristics to say that they can only be produced in a small arbitrarily defined area around Melton Mowbray. If the proposed boundary were extended some 20 miles south, it would include Saxby’s factory’.

The original proposed boundary was extended south to include Saxby, and interestingly north, thus including the Pork Farms factory then owned by Northern Foods.  This new demarcation went against the historical rationale for the boundary, particularly its extension north, as it was further based upon the idea that the distance a ‘pieman’ could travel would not extend beyond the river Trent because it was assumed that the pieman in question would not have paid a fee to a ferryman. The extension north prompted Matthew O’Callaghan to state:

Matthew O’Callaghan: ‘If Northern Foods wanted to make Melton Mowbray pork pies with PGI status, this factory could be upgraded at minimal cost’.

Northern Foods took issue with this redrawing to accommodate Saxby Brothers.  In 2004 the government withdrew its support for Melton Mowbray PGI taking time to sufficiently review concerns of other manufacturers. Northern Foods company secretary Julian Wild stated:

Julian Wild: ‘The boundary was arbitrary and drawn up to accommodate certain businesses. If PGI is used in this way it will lead to a situation whereby a whole range of recipe-based food products with geographic references will only be produced in certain locations by certain suppliers’.

In 2005 Gary Johnston, the then marketing director for Northern Foods Chilled Pastry Unit, stated:

Gary Johnston: ‘A successful PGI will mean that only pies produced within a 3,000km2region drawn up entirely to suit the requirements of one large manufacturer [Saxby's] will be able to use the Melton Mowbray name. And the boundary they have drawn up is an artificial one that bears no relation to the nature of the product or to any history of its production’.

In response to a letter by Brian Stein, chief executive of Samworth Brothers, who argued that PGI status would protect small producers, Carol Williams, head of legal, Northern Foods argued:

Carol Williams: ‘Sir; Contrary to the impression given by Brian Stein, group chief executive of Samworth Brothers (‘Why we want PGI for Melton Mowbray’, Letters, April 30), historically our main centres of Melton Mowbray Pork Pie (MMPP) production are Palethorpes in Shropshire, where they have been made since the 19th century, and Bowyers in Trowbridge, Wiltshire. 
The proposed PGI region identifies an area covering an artificial boundary of 1,800 square miles, much wider than the borough of Melton Mowbray’.

Moreover, other, smaller manufacturers also took issue.  Graham Booth, technical executive at porkpie producer George Adams & Sons stated:

Graham Booth: ‘Our factory is 26 miles from the centre of Melton Mowbray and we’re excluded. Yet Saxby’s, which is 35 miles away from the centre, was included’.

In 2007, however, Saxby’s stopped producing pork pies after which, of course, the boundary demarcation had been decided.  The Northamptonshire local paper states:

Northamptonshire Evening Telegraph: ‘Saxby’s has announced it will close in June with the loss of 130 jobs, just two months after the family firm was sold to a multinational company. General Mills UK, which bought Saxby’s at the start of the year, also owns Berwick pastry firm Jus-Rol and has been carrying out a major review of its operations. One option was to move all UK production to Wellingborough, but that has now been ruled out, and production is to move to Berwick-upon-Tweed in Northumberland this summer’.

The PGI boundary line

According to the official application, the final boundary will adhere to the following coordinates:

Official Journal of the EU: ‘Geographical area: The town of Melton Mowbray and its surrounding region bounded as follows:

• To the North, by the A52 from the M1 and the A1 and including the city of Nottingham,

• To the East, by the A1 from the A52 to the A605 and including the towns of Grantham and Stamford,

• To the West, by the M1 from the A52 to the A45,

• To the South, by the A45 and A605 from the M1 to the A1 and including the town of Northampton’.

Using the above coordinates, which officially came into effect in April 2008, the following map (fig 1) outlines the PGI boundary:

Fig 1. The black line indicates the approximate parameter of the PGI boundary.

The following map (fig 2) indicates where the producers’ fall in relation to the town of Melton Mowbray and boundary line itself.  Although the original boundary demarcation was modified to fit in the Saxby’s factory at Wellingborough, Saxby’s stopped producing pork pies in 2007.

Fig 2. The colours indicate where the producers, all members of the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association, approximately fall within the PGI boundary.  Production no longer takes place in Wellingborough.

Interestingly, after describing the geographical and historical factors that would have once limited the production of Melton Mowbray pork pies, the official application to the EU states:

Official Journal of the EU: ‘The geographical area described above is larger than the original area of production. This takes account of the fact that over time those barriers became less significant and recognises that production of the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie in accordance with the method of production described below has taken place for 100 years in the wider area surrounding Melton Mowbray’.

Summary

The PGI bordering process accumulated in the creation of a border that may seem arbitrary and secondary to more recognisable, legitimate, and in many cases more visible, national borders.  Rather than being the product of geopolitical arguments between states, legitimised and ‘normalised’ over time, the PGI border is constructed within national borders, legitimated and drawn by local interests in incoherent fashion.  The way in which the historical rationale of the ‘pieman’ is simply overridden and expanded upon being a case in point.  Arbitrary as the PGI border may seem, however, to those excluded it still represents a barrier posing serious economic problems, while those on the ‘right’ side are empowered in multiple ways.  Those in favour of the border allude to regional protection, to the development of Melton economically.  In other words, the border protects and secures from an outside threat that would supposedly dilute the identity and quality of product and place, something that is not too dissimilar to the function of ‘traditional’ borders in the contemporary world.

In terms of the ability of ordinary people to create and maintain ‘new’ borders, what is particularly interesting is the rationale behind the PGI boundary demarcation.  The original application was rooted in distinctly local and regional history (however arbitrary) and modified according to more contemporary politics relating to predominantly economic arguments.  It may be, then, that the rationale behind the creation of the UK’s new European borders can be still rooted in the geography of place connected to regional and local history, while at the same time defined by contemporary politics.

Empowerment and Disempowerment in the Bordering Process

The creation and maintenance of borders can be to the advantage of some, while at the same time disadvantaging others.  Indeed, the process leading up to the PGI status of Melton Mowbray pies and the subsequent creation of the PGI boundary  has been well publicised.  Most obvious, then, is the success of the members of the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie Association (MMPPA) in leading a successful campaign that resulted in the creation of the PGI boundary, at the expense of those producers who fall on the ‘wrong’ side of the line and can no longer label their products as ‘Melton Mowbray’.  What is perhaps less surprising is the presence of the far right in a town that has presumably benefited from the EU, a presence that would seemingly not bode well for the identity of the town bolstered by the PGI status of its products.  The town is a safe Conservative seat, but has recently seen active campaigning by the BNP by way of leafleting and handing out party newspapers in the town centre.  Melton also has a regional UKIP presence.  While the relevance (if any) of the far right presence in Melton Mowbray in relation to the PGI border and general borderwork remains unclear, it is curious that such a small town would experience seemingly contradictory politics and processes; in other words, insular ‘right wing’ politics alongside outward looking European bordering projects.

This section will continue where the first section concluded by examining the outcomes of the PGI boundary in terms of those involved, on both sides of the line.  It will also look at the effects of the border upon the town itself, before briefly enquiring into the far right presence in the town in terms of its relation to the PGI border.

Ramifications and consequences of the boundary

In 2005 Marks and Spencer’s decided to discontinue and phase out the Melton Mowbray label from a number of its own brand of pork pies in response to increasing likelihood PGI status for Melton.  The industry magazine the Grocer reported thus:

The Grocer: ‘Marks and Spencer has ditched the name Melton Mowbray on a number of its pork pie lines ahead of an EU ruling to give only pies made in the area protected rights to use the name. The retailer said the name was being phased out on the packaging of products that did not meet the Protected Geographical Indication criteria…A spokeswoman for M&S refused to comment on whether the move was a vote of no confidence for Northern Foods’ appeal. 

She said its remaining Melton Mowbray pork pies were in line with current legislation and were produced traditionally in the Melton Mowbray area’.

Interestingly, the producer of the discontinued pork pie was Northern Foods, and it is arguably the forecasted loss of revenue that prompted Northern Foods to drop its appeal over the PGI issue in 2006.  Again industry magazine the Grocer reports:

The Grocer: ‘Northern Foods dropped its appeal, which had reached the European Court of Justice, after receiving confirmation that the Commission would give long-term manufacturers of the pie five years to transfer production to within the proposed zone, if it decided to award PGI status’.

Northern foods had previously sold its subsidiary company Pork Farms in 2006.  Crucially, Pork Farms had numerous factories, one of which was located within the new boundary demarcation.  As a producer of Melton Mowbray pork pies, Pork Farms decided to move production within the boundary:

The Grocer: ‘Pork Farms, the former Northern Foods business, is to close its Trowbridge factory in an attempt to ensure it can continue making Melton Mowbray Pork Pies after they are given EU protected status. The company said that following a 90-day consultation with staff and unions, the plant would shut early next year, with production moved to its Queens Drive site in Nottingham. This factory is inside a zone that is set to become the only area in which Melton Mowbray Pork Pies can be made when they are given Protected Geographical Indication status by the European Commission. An £11m investment project in Queens Drive was already under way and due for completion in five months time, said Pork Farms. Transfers for some staff at Trowbridge to other factories within the business had already been arranged. 

”The relocation is needed to achieve the cost structure required to protect and develop our business in the UK,” said Mike Godley, general manager at Trowbridge’.

The local paper, the Melton Mowbray Times, was more emphatic about the move going with headline ‘The Melton pork pie is coming home’ and quoting Matthew O’Callaghan thus:

Matthew O’Callaghan: ‘This is good news for the Melton Mowbray Pork Pie and our campaign to return the pie to the area of its origin. The consumer will now have confidence in what they are buying really is the authentic product. This is very good news for British regional foods’.

The Melton Times briefly mentioned the possibility that the move to Nottingham may cost 400 jobs at the Wiltshire factory, and would cost Pork Farms £11m in the process.

The town of Melton Mowbray

At the time of writing there is surprisingly little in terms of gauging a response from the town itself in relation to gaining PGI status.  There is, however, evidence of how the PGI boundary can greatly benefit the town by creating marketing and tourism opportunities.  In this respect, the border can cement the identity of Melton. The Guardian has commented on the promotion of Berwick in terms of its inclusion on national and regional food tours.  In an interesting article concerning tourism it mentions Melton’s PGI bid:

The Guardian: ‘If granted [PGI status], this will mean that only pies made in the area, to specific standards, can be called Melton Mowbray pies, just like stilton, or champagne or parmesan cheese. In other words, the rural economy is in a fragile enough state that if you have to spend 11 years of your life battling in the European courts to get the local pork pies protected, it is all worth it if it keeps bringing the tourist bucks in. As one of the staff at the Leicestershire tourist board put it: “If you don’t have major, iconic tourist attractions you have to come up with something else. We looked at the success story in Cumbria, at other places that are doing really well, and we’ve got great food here: it’s quite a no-brainer really’.

The town of Melton Mowbray is being marketed as the Rural Capital of Food, and the ‘Melton Mowbray Food Partnership’ and hosts a major annual food event called ‘The East Midlands Food and Drink Festival’.  Indeed, in proclaiming Melton as the rural capital of food, their website, states:

The East Midlands Food and Drink Festival website: ‘There are many reasons given above why Melton Mowbray is described as the UK’s ‘Rural Capital of Food’. New boundary signs celebrate this stating ‘Borough of Melton; Home of Stilton Cheese and Melton Mowbray Pork Pies’ and more recently town signs with ‘Welcome to Melton Mowbray – Rural Capital of Food’.

To this end, Melton Borough Council has proclaimed ‘The promise of pies, pints and Stilton lure visitors to Melton’ in response to two successful trade shows featuring Melton.  The Council states:

Melton Mowbray Council: ‘Amidst the apparent recent downward spiral of High Street shopping, Melton Promotions has targeted Group Travel Organisers to include Melton Mowbray as a ‘Must Visit Destination’ for Christmas 2009 and throughout 2010. Two very successful travel trade fairs, Excursions 2009 in January and Travel Trade Britain in March have generated over 200 leads with excellent feedback from the attendees. Group Organisers and Tour Operators are now looking for something different and interesting and as a traditional market town, Melton Mowbray fits the bill!’

Furthermore, Andrew Cooper, Chair of Melton Promotions states:

Andrew Cooper: ‘There is now huge interest in domestic UK travel and Melton Mowbray, particularly with its food offering, is in a very strong and unique position to capitalise’.

Matthew O’Callaghan concurs.  A recent interview for the Canadian newspaper the Toronto Star states:

Toronto Star: ‘Wearing a jaunty beige mini-version of a cowboy hat he bought in New Zealand, my guide for the day has been a town councillor here for 12 years. He’s a man with a mission.  This is boldly illustrated by a brand new sign pointed out at the vintage train station.  It reads: “Welcome to MELTON MOWBRAY, Rural Capital of Food, Home of Stilton Cheese, Melton Mowbray Pork Pies”.

This continued media interest elsewhere is reminiscent of the interest generated when the campaign finally achieved PGI status.  The local newspaper summed it up thus:

Melton Times: ‘As well as the extensive UK national media coverage, newspapers as far flung as New Zealand, South Africa and Malta covered the story – showing just how highly regarded our local delicacy is around the globe’.

It can be argued that all the situations and events listed thus far have been created or bolstered by the PGI boundary.  In this respect another interesting example are comments made by the Europe Minister Caroline Flint MP on a visit to Melton on the 2nd April 2009.  She states:

Europe Minister Caroline Flint MP: ‘It has been fantastic to speak to food producers and find out how Europe is having a positive impact on their businesses. British food producers have a wonderful heritage and officially recognising and protecting the names of our finest regional products can bring huge benefits including publicity and access to new markets. And soon with the opening of a direct rail link from Melton Mowbray to London, there will be even more opportunities for local businesses to tap into the European market’.

Furthermore:

Europe Minister Caroline Flint MP: ‘Too often people worry that being part of the EU takes something away from our sense of Britishness.  In this case we can clearly see that the EU can help protect a great British brand. Officially recognising and protecting the names of our finest regional food can bring huge benefits to local producers including publicity and access to new markets. I congratulate Melton Mowbray on winning this coveted status and strongly encourage other British producers to look at the EU scheme…I have seen for myself examples of how our membership of the European Union is making a real difference to people and communities in Leicestershire’.

Stephen Hallam, Managing Director of ‘Ye Olde Pork Pie Shoppe’ situated in Melton, which the European Minister visited, commented:

Stephen Hallam: ‘For the Minister for Europe to choose to visit us shows how Melton Mowbray pork pies are putting the town on the map.  The tradition of the Melton Mowbray pork pie is something which is important to protect and we are pleased to have received recognition from Europe for it.  Her trip confirms how our pies are helping to raise Melton Mowbray’s status as the rural capital of food’.

The far right

It seems that Melton’s relationship with Europe may not be straightforward.  Perhaps indicative of this is a curious article published in the Melton Times asserting why the EU does matter.  The following quote by a europsceptic MEP gives a flavour:
Melton Times: ‘Like it or loathe it the EU has huge powers over the daily life of the man in the street in Melton – in what he wears, what car he drives and how long his working hours are’.

Moreover, the BNP website boasts immense interest from the people of Melton when the ‘Melton and Rutland team’ set up stall in the town centre to hand out their own ‘newspaper’ Voice of Freedom, and campaign against so-called local issues in September 2008.  What is perhaps immediately curious is that Melton is not the sort of locality traditionally targeted by the BNP: in other words, not an inner city area with high levels of immigration.  However, Nick Cohen of the Observer suggests that while the far right was once confined to the inner cities, they now turn up in the most surprising places.  In other words, people sympathetic to the BNP no longer conform to the traditional stereotypes (if they ever did) and, as such, extreme views gain a measure of normality and become legitimate within local pubs and social clubs.  This doesn’t adequately explain any possible connection with the construction of the PGI border, other than possible dissatisfaction with the elected officials who championed it.

On a slightly different tangent, a report by the group ‘Conservatives in the European Parliament’, concerning UKIP’s conduct in the European parliament states:

Conservatives in the European Parliament: ‘In March 2006, the European Parliament voted on new legislation to improve name protection for regional food products. The UK has EU protection for 36 products with ‘Protected Designation of Origin’ (PDO) or ‘Protected Geographical Indication’ (PGI), including Newcastle Brown Ale, Stilton Cheese, Cumberland sausages, Melton Mowbray pork pies and Cornish pasties. Research has shown that a group of seven EU countries (including the UK) achieve added value equivalent to £3 billion annually from this kind of product registration. Small and medium-sized firms especially benefit. Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrats MEPs supported these proposals. UKIP voted against’.

Summary

It is clear that the creation of the border has benefited the town as well as the producers who are legally able to use the label ‘Melton Mowbray’.  The PGI border, as well as the PGO border, is being used by Melton to create a distinct identity for itself as the UK’s Rural Capital of Food.  In other words the border is being used to further Melton’s reputation and identity far beyond its locality: it is at the very least a connection or ‘gateway’ to Europe.  Melton is becoming a ‘national capital’ connected to local, regional and international landscapes of which, it can be argued, the construction and maintenance of the border performs an integral function.

In terms of borderwork, the presence of the far right in Melton seems to have little relation to the overall project, at least at this stage.  Although such a presence may seem curious: both far right policies, and the rationale behind the PGI border (on one level) have the appearance of being rooted in geography, history and culture; the former being insular whereas the latter, somewhat ironically, embraces transnational connectivity; it seems that far right activity has little relevant impact on border construction and maintenance in Melton.

Concluding Remarks: Implications

One the of conclusions running through the previous report concerning the town of Berwick stated that the border, in relation to the town’s inhabitants, was used to varying degrees as a connective tissue that could project the town beyond its locality.  In other words, the border conceptualised in this way is not simply a demarcation between localities, and there is evidence of that here.  The boundary put in place by the successful application for Protected Geographic Indication status, allows Melton Mowbray to further brand itself as a centre of food excellence, placing Melton on the global food map.  The border also connects Melton to Europe, not only because the border empowers Melton to be able to ‘label’ itself as the UK’s so-called ‘Rural Capital of Food’ with greater legitimacy through European legislation, but also because, Melton finds itself on a border of Europe.  This in turn has intriguing connotations for UK borders, not least because it beckons the idea of the UK having borderlands.

What is distinctive about Melton in relation to Berwick, and elsewhere, rests on the notion of the ‘new border’.  Although the idea of borderwork makes it possible for ordinary people to negate traditional, national, borders to their own advantage, rather than having them imposed in a top down process, as is the case in Berwick, it is also possible to create important, tangible, non-state borders that never previously existed, as is the case in Melton and indeed elsewhere.  Such borders are potentially created by ordinary people and not state actors (groups and individuals can apply for European Geographic Protection) and can be empowering.  However, at the same time it must be acknowledged that others can be disempowered and excluded, underlying the importance and relevance of these new, non-state, borders.  Moreover, based upon this case study, it remains intriguing that the UK’s new borders, in this case made possible by transnational legislation, remain rooted and legitimated in local geography and history, connecting on the one hand and protecting on the other.