PUBLIC PROCUREMENT OF FOOD

That this House believes that food procurement practices by public bodies have the potential to make a significant contribution to reducing food miles, boosting the rural economy and improving nutritional standards; notes that not a single rasher of bacon fed to the UK's armed forces is from British farms; further notes the evidence in the Quality of Life Report which suggests that locally produced food need not be more expensive than imported food; accordingly urges public bodies to do everything they can within EU rules to source food requirements locally where they can do so at no additional cost; and calls on the Government to move towards a system where all publicly procured food meets British standards of production.