Prime Minister launches CLA's Just Ask campaign- do you know where the food on your plate comes from?

The Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Tony Blair MP, Rt Hon David Miliband MP, Secretary of State for the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and celebrity chef Lesley Waters from BBC's Ready, Steady, Cook, have today launched (Tuesday 9 January) the Country Land and Business Association's (CLA) Just Ask campaign at 10 Downing Street.  The campaign rolls out in the South East starting this week with a pub or restaurant in each county acting as the local launchpad for Just Ask .

The CLA's Just Ask campaign will encourage the public to ask where the food on their plate comes from whenever they're out for a meal - whether in a hotel, restaurant, pub, canteen or fast food outlet.  The campaign is designed to increase public awareness of the origin of food to enable people to make an informed choice about the food they eat.

Rupert Ashby, CLA South East regional director, said: "Just Asking where the food on your plate comes from is the first step in raising awareness of British food.  Too often a chef, waiter or proprietor won't know.  We intend to change that and, in the process, use consumer pressure to help ensure that we end up with more British food on our plates, increasing the amount of local suppliers and producers in the UK food chain.  British food ensures British farms and local producers have a future and can continue to provide the countryside we all enjoy."

Environment Secretary David Miliband said: "Whether you are eating in a roadside café or at a Michelin star restaurant I think there is something satisfying about knowing where the food on your plate comes from and the sense of connection that comes from eating local food."

Lesley Waters said: "We need to teach the next generation to care where their food comes from.  Buying British food and sourcing local, seasonal produce insures that we have a viable farming industry which maintains the countryside we love.  Why choose apples from South Africa when you could be choosing from a seasonal variety from Great Britain?  This won't happen overnight it's going to be a slow-burn but we have to start somewhere."

Frank McKay, CEO, Brakes, said: "Brakes is pleased to support the 'Just Ask'

campaign. As the UKs leading supplier to caterers and a major purchaser from British producers, we are committed to offering our customers products that are not only of the highest quality, but have the integrity and traceability behind them that enables caterers, and in-turn consumers to make an informed choice."

Ian Crawford, Group Commercial Director, 3663, said: "At 3663 we have been working hard to tackle the long-standing issue of providing locally sourced food to local people. Our initiative helps connect the chef and consumer with these local products.  Chefs prefer to use local ingredients, but it has always been hard to make this a financially viable option.  Every additional supplier adds a significant cost to a traditional wholesaling operation, in time, administration and deliveries into depot. Once the cost has been adjusted to accommodate these extra expenses, the availability of locally sourced goods becomes too expensive.

 "We have found a way of handling local produce through food hubs, which limits additional costs and enables us to offer locally grown and locally made foods at competitive prices. In addition this will offer the benefits of full traceability and quality, plus a reliable source of supply."

Caroline Cranbrook, from Suffolk who was awarded an OBE for services to the red meat industry in 2006, said: "Consumers are asking for an informed choice. Mankind has been hunting and gathering for hundreds and thousands of years but we've only been shopping for food and eating out relatively recently and lost connection with the land.  All the research I have done shows that the British consumer is anxious about their food and wants to be reconnected with food and where it comes from. What's interesting is that in the last year alone, I have found that people want to buy local food because of the food miles - this has risen rapidly to the top of their agenda as a new concern."

Facts and figures:

  a.. The total UK expenditure in the food service sector is worth £74 billion and provides 1.4 million jobs, supporting 108,000 businesses

(Source: Defra);

  b.. The total UK expenditure in the household food and drink sector (including supermarkets) is £78 billion supporting 187,000 jobs and 13,800 businesses (Source: Defra);

  c.. In 2005 the UK imported over £20bn worth of food, feed and drink and exported over £9bn (Source: Defra);

  d.. The food and drink manufacturing industry is worth £20bn and provides 423,000 jobs;

  e.. In 2005 a total of 3,146 tonnes of meat and 1,216 tonnes worth of dairy products were imported to the UK from the US (Source: Defra);

  f.. There are about 2,000 farm shops and 550 farmers markets across the UK

(Source: FARMA 2006)

  g.. A report by IGD Local and Regional Food Opportunities (March 2005) found that 70% of people wanted to buy local and British food; with 49% wanting to buy more of than they were currently

What next for the Just Ask campaign:

  a.. This is the start of a year-long consumer awareness campaign focusing on consumer choice;

  b.. The campaign will link into the Year of Food and Farming which begins in September 2007 which aims to reconnect people with food and farming;

  c.. MPs will be encouraged to sign an EDM supporting the campaign which will be tabled later this year;

  a.. The CLA will work with regional food interest groups through its Regional Food Advocates to promote Just Ask across the country.  Details of local events are outlined below;

  b.. The public can find out more and are encouraged to sign-up to the Just Ask campaign at www.cla.org.uk/justask

South East England - A series of pub/restaurant launches take place this week across the South East - please call Jonathan Roberts on 01892 614013/07960 716573 for more information.

The CLA Game Fair - 27-29 July, Harewood House, Nr Leeds, Yorkshire - CLA food chain initiative team will be promoting the Just Ask campaign

Country Land and Business Association's (CLA) Just Ask campaign - background

information:

 A big part of the food and farming strategy since the Curry report of 2002 is 'reconnection' - putting food consumers and farmers more in touch with one another.  Initially much emphasis has been on actions for farmers in putting more effort into local and regional foods, higher quality and farmers markets.  There have been great strides in this area in recent years.  Our new campaign is to work from the other end and try and influence consumers through our Just Ask campaign.

The food and farming sector is at the frontline of Government's approach to climate change and the natural environment. The food and farming sector has a very significant environmental footprint. The Just Ask campaign is important not only in reconnecting the consumer with British food and farming but is also an important way of reducing the carbon footprint of food consumption both at home and abroad.

The CLA and others in the sector have helped to begin the process of informing the consumer in relation to the food retail sector. We now intend to focus on the food service sector which makes up approximately half of the annual doestic consumer spend on food, such as food purchased from a fast food outlet, a canteen, pub or a hotel.

The Just Ask initiative seeks to encourage the British public to question where their food comes from.  The idea is to try and get people to repeat the mantra, 'Just ask .' where the lamb in this curry was produced; whether

the apples in this pie are English and so on.   This involves raising the

awareness of not only the public but also those in the food chain, from policy maker to opinion former, as to the origin of the food, wherever and however it is consumed.

The CLA will promote Just Ask throughout its centenary celebrations in 2007.

Lesley Waters, the celebrity chef will help to promote the campaign and other industry partners will be involved throughout the year.  One particular focus will be educating the next generation of consumers and the CLA will be actively encouraging its members to open up their farms for educational purposes in partnership with Farming and Countryside Education (FACE), who are launching their Year of Food and Farming with the support of the DfES, DEFRA and the Department of Health in September 2007.