The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 17th March 2023:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the percentage of (1) tomatoes, (2) peas, (3) onions, and (4) carrots, consumed in England that were imported; and for each of those types of produce, what were the countries of origin of those imports.
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about produce imports”The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 17th March 2023:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to find alternative routes for the export of grain from Ukraine given the closure of Black Sea ports in that country.
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Grain is leaving Ukraine through Black Sea ports. As of 19 March, more than 900 voyages carrying over 25 million tonnes of grain and other foodstuffs departed ports to deliver vital foodstuffs to Asia, Africa and Europe through the UK supported Black Sea Grain Initiative. The UK, along with G7 partners, has also supported increased exports of grain from Ukraine through land routes into Europe. Specifically the UK provided £10 million to bolster the Ukrainian railway system and provide greater resilience to facilitate the movement of grain by land exports.
The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answers on 17th April 2023:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the authenticity of British honey, following the investigation by the European Commission’s Anti-Fraud Office and the Joint Research Centre in which all British honey samples failed authenticity tests.
Lord Benyon (Con): The UK Government takes any type of food fraud very seriously, including honey adulteration. Defra works closely with enforcement authorities, the Food Standards Agency, and the National Food Crime Unit to ensure honey sold in the UK is not subject to adulteration, meets our high standards and maintains a level playing field between honey producers.
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about food standards investigations”The Bishop of Exeter received the following written answer on 13th March 2023:
The Lord Bishop of Exeter asked His Majesty’s Government what support they are providing to the horticultural industry to support the growth of fruit and vegetables.
Lord Benyon (Con): An innovative, productive, and competitive agricultural sector is one of HM Government’s key priorities.
Horticultural production was worth £4.8 billion in 2021 and is a vital sector, not only in ensuring the resilience of our food supply chains, but also as a major driver of local economic growth and employment.
Continue reading “Bishop of Exeter asks about support for the horticultural industry”The Bishop of Exeter received the following written answer on 10th March 2023:
The Lord Bishop of Exeter asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the causes of fruit and vegetable shortages in UK shops.
Lord Benyon (Con): The UK has a highly resilient food supply chain, as demonstrated throughout the Covid-19 response and is well equipped to deal with situations with the potential to cause disruption.
Defra is closely monitoring markets and supply chains to explore the factors that have contributed to ongoing supply chain pressures, including requesting weekly data from supermarkets on supplies of the foods affected to ensure we have the latest available data. We know that some supermarkets have applied item limits to a small number of fruit and vegetables due to poor weather affecting the harvest in Spain and North Africa, where a high proportion of produce consumed in UK at this time of year is grown.
Continue reading “Bishop of Exeter asks about fruit and vegetable shortages in UK shops”The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answers on 8th March 2023:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to address issues with the egg supply chain.
Lord Benyon (Con): The UK egg industry operates in an open market and the value of egg commodities, including the farm gate egg price, is established by those in the supply chain including farmers, processors, wholesalers, retailers and consumers.
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about food supply chain issues in the UK”
The Bishop of Gloucester received the following written answer on 8th February 2023:
The Lord Bishop of Gloucester asked His Majesty’s Government what consideration they have given to expanding the sample size for the Food Standards Agency’s Food and You 2 survey to a minimum of 10,000 households.
Continue reading “Bishop of Gloucester asks about increasing the sample size of the Food & You 2 Survey”The Bishop of Exeter received the following written answer on 19th January 2023:
The Lord Bishop of Exeter asked His Majesty’s Government what support they are providing to British farmers for the development of alternatives to dairy milk products, such as oat milk.
Lord Benyon (Con): We will always support British farming. We are introducing schemes and policies that enable farmers to have resilient businesses, produce the food our nation needs, enhance animal health and welfare and also to protect and enhance the natural environment.
Continue reading “Bishop of Exeter asks about production of alternative milk products”The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 9th January 2022:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to expand the National School Breakfast Programme.
Baroness Barran (Con): The government is committed to continuing support for school breakfasts and has extended the National School Breakfast Programme (NSBP) for an additional year in November. We are investing up to £30 million in our national school breakfast programme until the end of the summer term in 2024. This funding will support up to 2,500 schools in disadvantaged areas, meaning that thousands of children from low-income families will be offered free nutritious breakfasts to better support their attainment and wellbeing.
The Bishop of St Albans received the following written answer on 7th December 2022:
The Lord Bishop of St Albans asked His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the 16-week grace period during which eggs from birds that were intended to be free-range may be marketed as such despite the introduction of mandatory housing measures on 7 November.
Lord Benyon (Con): Egg Marketing Standards provides a 16-week derogation period during which the free-range description can be retained on eggs even if hens have been housed.
Continue reading “Bishop of St Albans asks about marketing of free-range eggs”
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