Bates calls for practical action to promote local food (Montgomeryshire Liberal Democrats)

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Montgomeryshire Liberal Democrats <montlibdems@gmail.com>

Bates calls for practical action to promote local food

March 4, 2009 12:00 AM

Montgomeryshire AM Mick Bates has called on the First Minister in the chamber to take practical action to promote local food and support local communities and industries in Wales to give them a fighting chance to get through recession.

Speaking in the chamber this week Welsh Lib Dem Mick Bates said:

"In the current economic climate it is crucial that we support our local industries and accurate and clear food labelling is a key way to ensure that consumers are making an informed choice over the products they buy.

"I believe that we need to go one step further and monitor the amount of Welsh produce that is being sold by our major retailers, so that we can see which retailers are really committed to supporting local produce and which need to be encouraged to do more.

"We should urge our supermarkets and major retailers to be transparent about the amount of Welsh food they sell as compared to the amount of imported produce sold and to encourage them to compete over who sells the most locally sourced produce.

"One way to do this is to print on receipts the percentage of Welsh produce purchased, as is done in Ireland. This is a practical step that would help sell more Welsh produce and bring greater prosperity to our rural economies."

Mick has now written to the Minister Elin Jones to encourage her to discuss this concept with supermarkets and major retailers to help local producers to survive during the current economic recession.

End/Diwedd