The environment secretary, Steve Reed, will tell the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) annual conference on Tuesday that the public sector is to be set a target of sourcing at least half of all food from farms with the highest welfare standards, which should benefit British growers and food producers.
Reed’s announcement comes amid the government’s efforts to reset relations with food producers and growers after the announcement in October’s budget that agricultural properties would be liable for inheritance tax, sparking large-scale protests by farmers.
At the time, Reed said the government would start to monitor the origin of food bought by the public sector as part of efforts to help farmers get a “fairer share” of catering contracts.
An NFU spokesperson said: “Labour’s manifesto commitment to sourcing 50% of food in the public sector from the UK was welcome and NFU members at our conference next week will be pleased to hear how ministers intend to deliver on it.
Reed has previously said that £5bn is spent each year on public sector catering contracts, and an overhaul of public procurement rules would mean that domestic produce would be prioritised over cheaper imports from abroad.
