Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by David Drew (Labour). It was answered on Thursday, 12 June 2008 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Food Supply

Question: I hear what my right hon. Friend says, but does he see an important role for local food chains now, and particularly for the idea that people should produce food at home as well as purchase it? Will he talk to his colleagues in the Department for Communities and Local Government about the importance of the garden, which has been underestimated, and in particular about reassessing the role of allotments, because many people would grow their own produce but have not had the opportunity to do so?

Answer: I agree completely. The year of food and farming is in part about doing precisely that, not least encouraging some of the younger generation to understand that food grows not in supermarkets but in fields, allotments and elsewhere. I think that there is a growing interest in where food comes from—the point raised in the earlier question—which can be seen in the growth of farmers' markets and the efforts that some supermarkets are making to link the products that they sell with the farmers who have produced them. We should welcome that.

Secondary information