The Government should buy British
July 23rd, 2008 | This post was written by John Gummer MPTake an evening stroll through any residential area and it won’t be long before you catch the unmistakable smell of a barbeque wafting through the air. A clear sign that people are making the most of the few sunny days we are having during this temperamental summer. Parliament itself is getting in on the act with several of the canteens and restaurants boasting of barbeque days. Weeks of eating chargrilled treats are eagerly anticipated by those for whom cholesterol isn’t an issue. The only thing nobody seems to worry about is how many of the sausages and burgers being woofed down by MPs and their staff will be made from meat from these shores?
If a new report by the British Pig Executive and National Pig Association is anything to go by then it will be not nearly enough. The Government’s procurement of British produce is woefully inadequate. Ever since the high grain prices hit, British pig farmers have been in trouble and have been losing money on every animal they sell. Foreign competition means that the price of pork is kept low but at a terrible cost to the industry and there is a real possibility we could lose virtually all of our pig farmers. This would mean an end to buying pork that we know has come from farms with high standards of animal welfare. More importantly the environmental costs will soar as the move towards locally-produced and sustainable food is replaced with increased food miles and intensive and damaging foreign farming methods.
One way this could change would be for taxpayer-funded bodies to commit to buying British food. Council employees could have crackers and local cheese; our soldiers could fill-up on British beef and Yorkshire pudding; and our doctors, nurses and patients in hospital could munch on nutritious Kentish cherries and Somerset apples.
But instead of a country in which teachers and children in schools tuck into British bangers we have one where Ed Balls’ Department for Children, Schools and Families gets absolutely none of its bacon from UK sources. It’s simply not good enough.
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July 24th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
We have rules about the rearing and keeping of pigs. Unfortuanetly, most of the places we import pigs from don’t, so they can undercut our own farmers. Many of them now do a service to barbecue their pigs for parties as its the only way they can be made to pay. Shame on supermarkets etc, who should only sell produce that complies with UK best practice, wherever it may come from – and not on the price alone.
July 24th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Must take umbrage with the last comment. While I personally will always buy local organic food, the supermarkets should continue to offer choice and continue to offer lower prices for people who are driven by price; not everyone can share my relative wealth.
While I’d like to agree with the main post, I can’t help but wonder how a Conservative party committed to reducing the costs of government would go about increasing catering budgets for the sake of higher quality. The way most people feel about politicians and civil servants, maybe we should let them eat cake?