The Conservatives have launched a scathing attack on the government’s public procurement and have vowed all food in central government will be British if they are elected into power next year.
Tory shadow environment minister Nick Herbert said if the party came into power all food would meet British standards following criticism from the farming industry that food across Whitehall and for the Armed Froces is often sourced from abroad.
Herbert said, while it couldn’t guarantee all food would be British under EU law, British standards must be upheld leading to a likely increase in British food procurement.
The government currently only has procurement power over central government and the Armed Forces with power over food decisions in organization such as the NHS, schools or councils decided on a devolved basis.
Herbert told Anna Hill of BBC Radio 4’s Farming Today: “We want to see real change in government. What we are saying is that the food must meet sustainable procurement standards and some departments are not even trying at the moment. There’s a wide gap between those with as much as 90 per cent British food and those who are not trying.”
Herbert defended the requirement that the food may not increase costs and therefore was much more likely to be imported: “All the evidence is that it does not cost any more to produce British food, even with reduced budgets…so there is no reason it will push up costs.”
The Soil Association “welcomed this first step from the Conservative party towards acknowledging the power of public procurement to change diets in this country and meet better food production standards”.
It said in a statement: “…confining this announcement to Whitehall is not going far enough. The Soil Association’s Food for Life Catering Mark is putting British meat and fresh, local, seasonal and organic produce on the menu at schools, football clubs, nurseries, and hospitals across the country. Already 120,000 school children are eating Food for Life menus everyday.
“We believe that the Conservatives should follow up on the success of the Food for Life scheme by setting a clear expectation that all schools and hospitals will be serving climate-friendly, healthy menus under a Conservative government.”
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