Hull farmer calls for more local produce in schools and hospitals

Hull farmer Angela Kirkwood is advocating for more local produce, such as peas, carrots, potatoes, pork, and fish, to be served in schools and hospitals throughout East Yorkshire.

Angela believes that using locally grown and raised food would benefit farmers, create jobs, and boost the local economy.

Her call to action includes urging councils to plan for food security, anticipating potential disruptions to national supply chains.

East Riding of Yorkshire council says that each school creates its own lunch menu with the assistance of expert teams.

Angela said:

"If we support our local food producers and local farmers, then it will create reinvestment in the area."

She says there's a huge importance of creating demand for local produce:

"I don't think there's necessarily any need for more money. It's about creating more demand."

Angela questioned the lack of local plans in place for addressing potential shocks to the food system, expressing concern about reliance on supermarkets:

"We haven't actually got any local plans at all as to what would happen if there was a shock to the food system. We're very much dependent on the supermarkets to be able to sort it out."

Angela's recommending that the council consider the abundant supply of local produce:

"My ask would be, what would we do locally if there was a problem? I challenge East Riding Council to look at things like peas, carrots, potatoes, pork, beef, poultry, and fish."

She highlighted the availability of food at scale and a good price point within the region:

"All that we've got at scale at a good price point within East Riding because we've got some huge food producers in our region and it's a great food producing region."