Reform UK councillor calls for more local meat in school meals

A Reform UK councillor has called on a council to procure more chicken and meat for school dinners from Welsh and British farmers, saying the current proportion wasn’t “good enough”.

Cllr Francesca O’Brien said that, according to a group called Countryside Alliance, only 2.33% of chicken meals at council schools in Swansea were UK-sourced.

More than 65% of chicken meals came from the European Union and around 31% from as far as Brazil, Thailand and China, she added.

Speaking at a Swansea Council meeting on March 25, she said: “I don’t feel that’s good enough.” She added: “I would like to see that percentage vastly increase.”

Cllr O’Brien, who acknowledged the work of councillors Brigitte Rowlands and Andrew Stevens – both farmers – said she understood there was a procurement process but called on the authority to “lead the way” to ensure it could adhere to the “no farmers, no food” slogan.

“So I would like the council to reconsider their procurements when it comes to meat and ensure that Welsh and British produce is first before Brazil, China and Thailand,” she said.

Cllr Robert Smith, Labour cabinet member for education and learning, said he echoed the support for the two councillor-farmers and that if there were things the council could do to support the local supply chain it would certainly do them.

His written response said the council was part of a nationwide food contract procured to ensure demand could be met, as well as having rigorous tracking and quality standards and ensuring best value price-wise.

The response added that the supplier couldn’t meet contract requirements locally at present and that it did aim to source more products from Wales in the future and was working with local farmers and organisations to influence supply chains.

Cllr Stevens, cabinet member for environment and infrastructure, said a “huge amount of good stuff” was being done in Swansea on this subject.

He added: “Unfortunately a lot of things in farming have been made significantly more difficult since (Reform UK leader) Nigel Farage led us out of the EU – one of the most single, damaging things to UK farming in my opinion.”

Referring to Mr Farage’s appearance last year at the Royal Welsh Show, he said “all the amount of swanning about dressed in tweed is not going to make up for that”.

In Wales 52.5% of those who voted in the 2016 Brexit referendum chose to leave the EU and 47.5% voted to remain.

Uplands Party councillor Stuart Rice asked what measures the council could take to increase the weighting given to local produce when school food was procured. Cllr Smith said he would answer in writing.

Meanwhile Labour councillor Lesley Walton said she felt Cllr O’Brien’s question was “slightly disingenuous” as she said it seemed Mr Farage had advocated buying food from New Zealand. “At least we are bothering to do something about this,” she said.

The Countryside Alliance had sent Freedom of Information requests to Wales’ 22 councils asking what proportion of chicken used in their school meals was produced and reared in Wales, the UK, EU, and outside the EU.

Data for the most recent academic year in which statistics were available and for all chicken products served in schools was requested.

Of the 20 responses received, three local authorities said more than 85% of chicken served in school meals in their areas was sourced from countries outside the EU such as Thailand and China.

The Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA), which represents councils, said imported chicken was used in some schools due to availability and cost pressures, particularly where budgets were tight and local supply couldn’t meet demand at an affordable price. It said councils must still ensure all products meet the same food safety standards regardless of origin.

A WLGA spokesman said: “Councils are working to improve sustainability and support local supply chains where possible, while ensuring school meals remain safe, affordable and consistently available.”

The Local Democracy Reporting Service contacted Reform UK to ask if it wished to comment on what was said during the council discussion.

Swansea Conservative leader Cllr Lyndon Jones said the issue of more local produce being served in school canteens has been looked at by a council scrutiny committee and panel. “We need to get more food produced locally,” he added.

“Swansea Council is part of a nation-wide food contract that has been procured to ensure demand levels can be met, as well as having rigorous tracking and quality standards and ensuring best value for the price of a school meal.

“The supplier is responsible for sourcing products that meet the requirements of the contract and for ensuring the supply is maintained. It is not possible for our supplier to meet all of these requirements locally at the present time but they do aim to source more products from Wales in the future and are working with local farmers and organisations to influence supply chains. ”