Provenance and healthy eating will be paired together for the first time in a saucy new campaign aimed at getting the public to eat '5-a-day the British Way'.

Next week, the NFU will be sending information on Britain's seasonal fresh produce to national newspapers - illustrated by striking imagery of naked models covered in British fruit and vegetables, creating an Adam and Eve-style scene of temptation.

The aim of the campaign, which has received the backing of the Department of Health and will make use of the official 5-a-day brand, is to encourage a younger audience to eat more healthily and boost British produce sales.

"The campaign is all about saying 'it's important to eat your 5-a-day, but let's do it with British fruit and veg," said NFU chief horticulture adviser Philip Hudson.

Currently some two thirds of all fresh produce sold in Britain is home-grown, according to Defra, but Hudson stressed that the union was not unrealistic enough to expect shoppers to only eat fruit and veg produced in this country.

"It's essentially saying that people should look for British produce in season. It's not saying that you can't eat produce from elsewhere."

Horticulture board chairman Richard Hirst added that the campaign would be a success if it could get people to eat at least two to three portions a day of British produce.

The campaign is part of the NFU's new Why Horticulture Matters campaign, which aims to stress the importance of the UK fresh produce industry to the nation's economy.

There has been a concerted push by the UK horticulture industry this year to promote seasonal produce, with the Horticultural Development Company also launching a website to educate consumers about its virtues.

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