FARM ANIMAL WELFARE AND PUBLIC PROCUREMENT

That this House believes that public sector bodies should, when procuring food and meals, help deliver good standards of farm animal welfare; congratulates Wirral Council on its decision to use only free range eggs; regrets that the Government's Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative has achieved very little as regards farm animal welfare; believes that most poultry meat, eggs and pig meat procured by the public sector is derived from animals that have been reared industrially; urges public sector bodies to procure only chicken meat that has come from birds that have been reared free range or to high indoor standards; believes that it is not appropriate for public sector bodies to purchase battery eggs as this system will be illegal throughout the European Union from 2012; accordingly urges public sector bodies to join the many supermarkets and food service operators that no longer sell or use battery eggs; and calls on the Government to adopt public procurement policies that promote good standards of farm animal welfare.