Fears ministers will axe pledge to serve British grown food in schools in fresh blow to farmers A ROW has exploded over fears ministers will ditch their pledge to serve British grown food in schools in the scramble for spending cuts.
A spokesman for the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs said: “The Government is committed to using the Government’s own purchasing power to back British produce, with an ambition for 50 per cent of food in hospitals, army bases and prisons to be local or produced to high environmental standards.
Mo Metcalf-Fisher, from the Countryside Alliance, said: “The government made a welcome promise to fly the flag for British farmers by serving home-grown food in its hospitals and schools.
Sir Keir Starmer promised that at least 50 per cent of food served by the state would be British grown or hit the same high standards.
The food row comes as hundreds of farmers prepare to descend on Parliament in their tractors on Monday to protest at the family farm tax.
