Currently when buying food, public organisations do not need to uphold the UK's world-leading food production and animal welfare standards if they lead to significantly increased costs.
Dr Neil Hudson MP stood up in Parliament this week to back British farmers by closing this loophole and maintain the UK's role as a beacon of best practice to the rest of the world.
In 2021, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee (on which Dr Neil Hudson MP sits) published a report on public sector procurement of food. The committee’s recommendations included that the The Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services (GBSF) which dictates UK procurement standards should be updated in relation to nutrition, animal welfare, sustainability and local food procurement. The committee also called for the GBSF to be mandatory across the public sector.
Recommendations from the EFRA Committee to date include updating the buying standards to ensure procurement of healthy, sustainable food; making the standards mandatory across the entire public sector; improving and monitoring compliance with the standards; and opening up supply chains to a wider range of businesses.
With his background in veterinary science Dr Neil Hudson has been consistent in ensuring the UK is resolute in its commitments to animal welfare. You can read more about his work on the policy area here.
Speaking afterwards, Dr Neil Hudson MP said:
"My unwavering priority will always be our brilliant British farmers and the livestock in their care. We cannot abandon our world-class animal welfare and food production standards purely because it is cheaper to do so.
"It deeply troubles me that our incredible local farmers are overlooked by public bodies in favour of poor-quality foreign food and we as a nation demand better. I look forward to pressing ahead on this issue and was encouraged by the Minister's response to me."
You can watch the full debate from 16:29:59 here. Dr Hudson intervenes first at 16:35:10.
