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DECEMBER 2022
TOURISM SITES ‘GOING LOCAL’
Family attractions in the UK are serving more local ingredients and British meat despite battling with rising ingredient costs and staff shortages, according to a Soil Association investigation.
The food and farming charity has ranked 16 of the UK’s leading attractions in a new league table after an army of “secret diner” parents helped to assess the quality of food on offer. The Out to Lunch campaign found nine of the attractions are sourcing local ingredients and half of them are sourcing 100 per cent British meat compared to a third in 2018 when the investigation last visited. Good examples of local sourcing included Cornish meat at the Eden Project, a large variety of Scottish produce at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh, and Chester Zoo won points for sourcing meat and dairy from Cheshire and the Ribble Valley. Soil Association head of food policy Rob Percival said: “We are really pleased to see visitor attractions supporting local British farmers. “Some of these attractions are really leading the way in sourcing ingredients that are not only British but produced on their doorsteps in their local area. “It is particularly encouraging to see this when we know caterers deal with rising prices, staff shortages and supply chain disruption. “It is a testament both to the efforts of
BY IAIN ST JOHN
the attractions, and to the quality of British products.” Becky Fenner, Eden’s hospitality manager, said: “We are delighted to have come top of the Out to Lunch league table. The Eden Project’s mission centres around building relationships between people and planet to demonstrate the power of working together for the benefit of all living things. Central to this is our food story.” Five attractions failed to answer the Soil Association’s questions. Mr Percival said: “Serious concerns must be raised when an attraction doesn’t come clean about their ingredient sourcing. What are they trying to hide? “Rising ingredient costs are putting a huge strain on caterers, but transparency across our food chain is not only what parents are demanding, it’s the only way we can meet our environmental goals.” The investigation also focused on healthy food, particularly for children, and uncovered a lack of vegetables on offer. Less than half of these leading attractions are serving veg with every children’s meal – while adults are offered a much larger and diverse menu with more choices to eat healthily. But in response to the campaign, nine destinations have now committed to serving veg with every children’s meal – providing another opportunity to support British farmers. For more information on the campaign and for a full profile for each attraction, visit soilassociation.org/outtolunch
Export summit staged
More power is delivered New Holland has extended its T7 Long Wheelbase range with a new flagship model that delivers more power and best-in-class powerto-weight ratio while maintaining the dimensions and manoeuvrability of the other models. The new T7.300 was officially launched to the public at the SIMA 2022 exhibition in Paris. Oscar Baroncelli, head of tractors at New Holland, said: “Our customers told us they wanted a tractor with more power without the downside of bigger frames and more weight, and they didn’t want to sacrifice manoeuvrability. We took up their challenge and developed the new T7.300 Long Wheelbase.” For more details contact New Holland dealership Rea Valley Tractors. l Rea Valley Tractors sponsors the Machinery Section of The Farmer, starting on Page 21
Tree for free Professor Ken Sloan and Kemi Badenoch at Harper Adams University
Secretary of State for International Trade Kemi Badenoch was welcomed to Shropshire’s Harper Adams University for a visit underlining the strength of British farming. She spoke at the NFU Dairy Export Summit. The summit was held jointly with the Department for International Trade and hosted on the Harper Adams campus. The summit offered an opportunity for key industry representatives to discuss what is needed to both tackle challenges
and make the most of opportunities for British dairy exports. During a packed visit, the Secretary of State also met the university’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Ken Sloan. He said: “The university’s commitment to British farming is without question. “It was, therefore, pleasing to hear the Secretary of State confirm her commitment to the success of the farming industry and the investments she is making to support its export ambitions.” l Boost – Page 16
Every household in Wales is being invited to collect a free tree in a bid to create a national forest in the country. More than 50 collection hubs have been set up as part of the My Tree Our Forest initiative. A whopping 295,000 trees are up for grabs and their planting will contribute to the National Forest for Wales. Wales’s Deputy Climate Change Minister Lee Waters said: “By growing a beautiful tree in your own backyard, you can kickstart your contribution and help grow a healthy and happy Wales for us and our future generations to benefit from.”
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Photograph of Shropshire Hills 22-759_V3