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Written question asked by Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green Party) on Monday, 21 October 2019, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Monday, 4 November 2019. It was answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton (Conservative) on Thursday, 31 October 2019 on behalf of the Department for Education.

School Meals

Question

To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of food served in English schools is (a) organic, and (b) locally sourced; and what plans they have, if any, to increase that percentage.

Answer

Schools are responsible for their school meals service and how and where they choose to buy their produce. The department does not hold the information on what percentage of food is organic and locally sourced. Schools may use the guidance launched alongside the government’s 'Plan for Public Procurement: Food and Catering Services'.

The guidance provides a methodology which helps contracting parties balance a range of criteria when procuring food and catering services. These include production standards, health and wellbeing, resource efficiency, socio-economic factors, quality of service and price.

The guidance has been attached and is available from:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/a-plan-for-public-procurement-food-and-catering.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL240
Session
2019-19
Attachment
HL240_guidance
Subjects
Procurement Organic food School meals
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk