Tories outline plans to ensure Government buys British

Launching a new phase of the Party’s Honest Food campaign, Shadow Defra Secretary Nick Herbert set out a range of proposals, including:

• A requirement for all new contracts to specify Whitehall departments and their agencies only purchase food that meets British standards of production, wherever this can be achieved without increasing overall costs.
• Developing a Code for Sustainable Food to provide a clear, simple and workable set of standards for the public sector, including hospitals, care homes, schools and prisons.
• A requirement for local councils and NHS organisations to publish details of the food they buy, so they can be held to account.

Mr Herbert launched the policies at the country market in Barnes, in south west London, with local Conservative Parliamentary Candidate Zac Goldsmith.

Mr Herbert said self-sufficiency in food had fallen under a Labour Government, while Defra figures published earlier this year showed the proportion of food from UK farms sourced by Government departments fell from 66 per cent in 2007-08 to 65 per cent in 2008-09.

Taxpayers were unaware of how much of the food served in their local school or hospital is British, he added.

 “We need a government that backs British farmers, takes a lead in sourcing more local food and is transparent about what food the public sector is buying,” he said.

“More local sourcing is good for the consumer, good for British producers, good for the environment, and can be good for the bottom line as well.”

The Conservative manifesto also pledged to introduce ‘honesty in food labelling’, if necessary through legislation, to ensure meat labelled as ‘British’ is born and bred in Britain, and raised to domestic welfare standards.

Defra previously responded to Tory claims that Government Departments are sourcing less British food by pointing out that the figures showed 13 out of 21 departments had increased their proportion of British-sourced food.

Farming Minister Jim Fitzpatrick said 99 per cent of all milk and eggs sourced now come from Britain. “The Government is committed to helping local food producers compete for public sector catering contracts,” he said.

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