Paice: The Government must use its purchasing power to back British farmers
12 January 2010
Speaking to Kent farmers on Thursday (14 January), Shadow Agriculture Minister, Jim Paice will call on the Government to use its purchasing power to back British farmers.
Mr Paice will say:
“It says everything about this discredited administration that while Hilary Benn launches a ‘fruit and vegetables task force’ and urges people to buy British, his own Government is shunning homegrown produce.”
According to the latest official statistics the proportion of orchard fruit such as apples and pears sourced by the Government from British farms fell from 46 per cent in 2006/07 to just 30 per cent in 2007/08, the last year for which figures are available. The Department for Children, Schools and Families, for example, sources just 2% of its apples and pears from this country.
Mr Paice will also say: “Spending a greater proportion of the £2 billion public sector food budget on local produce would reduce food miles and boost the rural economy. But Labour’s failure to back local produce is shameful.
“As a first step, a Conservative Government will require Whitehall departments to procure food that meets British standards of production. We know from numerous examples that this can and must be done without increasing overall costs.”