THE Government is buying less and less of its food from Britain's farmers.
Bridlington MP Greg Knight said he is angry they are not backing local farmers and latest official figures show a number of departments didn't buy so much as a single rasher of bacon from British farms.
"Overall the proportion of domestically pr
oduced pork, chicken, beef and lamb being purchased across Government is falling.
"Injecting the £2 billion which the public sector spends on food every year into the rural economy could make a huge difference to local farmers and the environment, but the Prime Minister, who talked so much about 'Britishness' last year is actually allowing less food to be sourced from our farms this year," said the MP.
He believes the government should rule all Whitehall departments buy goods that meet British standards of production, wherever it can be achieved without increasing overall costs.
"All the evidence is that local food needn't cost more – in fact, it will often lead to savings," he said.
He also called for schools, hospitals and local authorities to shop local.
"We should be taking action to support local food and show we care about the countryside," said Mr Knight.
The MP also said he supports plans to introduce legislation on country of origin labelling so that foreign food which is just packaged here cannot be labelled as 'British.'
He said that British farmers safeguard our food security, maintain the countryside and provide the raw materials for the UK's largest manufacturing sector.
"It is about time the government created the conditions in which the industry can thrive," he added.
