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CLA Food Campaign To Confront Public Sector Procurement Problems The UK public sector has simply not got the message that purchasing local food helps support local jobs, provides better value and better quality according to the CLA, the rural economy experts. Speaking at a breakfast in London held to mark the first anniversary of the CLA's 'Just Ask' campaign, CLA President, Henry Aubrey-Fletcher, said that the low level of local food purchased by the public sector was appalling.
"Recent research suggests that locally produced food account for only two per cent of all the food purchased by public sector organisations. That means that of the £1.8 billion spent on food by that sector each year, only £36 million goes to local, British food producers and that is a shocking statistic," he said.
The CLA's 'Just Ask' campaign encourages the public to ask where the food on their plate comes from whenever they're out for a meal. 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. At this morning's breakfast, the CLA announced that the next stage of the campaign will include a survey of a wide range of public and private sector bodies. The survey will identify just how much bodies ranging from primary care trusts to football clubs have embraced the local food agenda.
"At a time when local food issues are rising up the political agenda, it seems clear to us that more needs to be done with the major purchasers by the government, the industry and by producers themselves. Before we can make recommendations, we want to establish what influences the decisions and evaluate the options but we aim to publish the results of this survey on St George's Day when we will be holding a series of breakfasts celebrating British produce up and down the country," said the CLA President.
He also announced the establishment of a specialist group from the food service sector to help direct the campaign.
"We realise that we don't have a monopoly of wisdom in the food sector, so we want to use all the skills available to us through our allies in that sector and, above all, we want to encourage everybody involved in the food chain to 'Just Ask' where the food they are buying comes from." Ends
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More articles and documents [News Archive] [23 February 2010] GN01-06-Requirements under the Poultry Register [Guidance notes] [16 February 2006] CLA47 - Food Safety Management Tools in the Food Chain [Advisory handbooks] [22 April 2008] CLA response to the OFT [Consultation response archive] [19 April 2006] |
An economist, advises on rural economic issues, particularly food policy, rural tourism, equine issues and telecommunications policy. 
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