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Departmental Food

Volume 502: debated on Monday 7 December 2009

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the proportion of (a) lamb, (b) beef, (c) chicken, (d) pork, (e) turkey, (f) other meats, (g) vegetables and (h) fruit procured by his Department that was produced in the UK in the latest period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. (300191)

Percentages of each product type used by the Ministry of Justice that are produced in the UK are shown in the following table:

Percentage

Reference

Category

MoJ

MoJ-public sector prisons

MoJ-private prisons

Meat and poultry

(a)

Mutton and lamb

55

65

53

(b)

Beef and veal

84

46

48

(c)

Poultry meat

14

2

40

(d)

Pork

70

18

36

(d)

Bacon

4

0

28

Vegetables, salads and fruit

(g)

Ware potatoes—whole, unprepared

97

98

99

(g)

Processed potatoes—for prepared both whole and cut

6

64

60

(g)

Roots and onions, e.g. carrots, parsnips, onions, turnips and swedes

97

66

77

(g)

Brassicas, e.g. Brussels sprouts, cabbage and cauliflower

80

55

78

(g)

Legumes, e.g. beans (broad), beans (runner and dwarf), peas (green for market), peas (green for processing), peas (harvested dry)

74

1

24

(g)

Protected vegetables, e.g. tomatoes (round, vine, plum and cherry), tomatoes (cold), cucumbers, lettuce, celery, sweet peppers

38

39

45

(g)

Other vegetables, e.g. asparagus, celery, leeks, lettuce, watercress

75

18

56

(h)

Orchard fruit, e.g. dessert apples, culinary apples, pears, plums

40

0

12

(h)

Soft fruit, e.g. strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blackcurrants

39

0

26

Her Majesty's Court Service and headquarters buildings—locations with centrally let catering contracts1

Ministry of Justice

Number

Public sector prisons

128

Private prisons

11

1 There are no food contracts.

This most recent information is contained in a Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs report for 2007-08 detailing the proportion of food grown or reared in the UK used by Whitehall Departments, including that supplied to public sector prisons in England and Wales under contracts negotiated by HM Prison Service, now part of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS).

A copy of this report was placed in the House of Commons Library. A copy can be obtained using the following link:

http://www.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/policy/publicsectorfood/documents/psfpi-datareport081125.pdf