asked Her Majesty's Government:

For each year since January 2000 and for each of the Armed Forces, what has been the proportion of United Kingdom-grown fresh food purchased for consumption by United Kingdom-based personnel in the following categories (a) meat; (b) poultry; (c) dairy products; and (d) vegetables. [HL1262]

The MoD's new food supply contract commenced in October 2006. The transition between contractors means that information on the country of origin of different foods prior to this date could not be obtained without disproportionate effort.

The food supply contractor procures approximately 1,200 different products for the UK Armed Forces. The percentage of UK-produced goods changes regularly as a result of seasonality, value for money incentives, changes to the product specification and supplier. The country of origin of some products is indeterminate because they are manufactured using a number of ingredients, and other products, such as fresh fruit and vegetables, are sourced seasonally from a variety of countries. We can, however, state that under the new food supply contract, 44 per cent of pork (excluding gammon and bacon products), beef and lamb (by value) has been procured from British farms.