There is a low key social media campaign around asking people whether if food can be grown on local farms we should be importing it.

This raises key questions around the environmental cost of transporting food long distances, poorer standards outside the EU and the need to value food security and what farmers do for the nation.

While the immediate response might be to back UK production, that is tied up with cost and government policy. No matter what politicians may say, the reality is that the UK is wedded to a cheap food policy, made worse now by the pressures of inflation on food and energy in particular.

This has been at the core of UK policy for decades under both Conservative and Labour government, with neither demonstrably better for agriculture since the early 1990s. In terms of quality and standards we regularly see the consequences of an open door to cheap food. The EU has been forced, mainly as a result of pressure from Ireland, to temporarily ban imports of beef from Brazil until it can prove it is in compliance with the rules that eased access to European markets.

No matter what politicians may say, the reality is that the UK is wedded to a cheap food policy, made worse now by the pressures of inflation on food and energy in particular.

placeholder image — No matter what politicians may say, the reality is that the UK is wedded to a cheap food policy, made worse now by the pressures of inflation on food and energy in particular.

We have also faced what should have been a scandal of the ultra-price competitive catering sector using imported eggs that did not meet UK or EU standards on salmonella. Another recent row was over the use of Halal poultry in school meals.

This is a sensitive issue, but ultimately it comes down to cost. School and other public sector meals are about cost and suppliers say they need to be able to source competitively. That means turning a blind eye to some of the production practices and how animals are slaughtered. They say that without the freedom to buy the cheapest available it would not be possible to compete in this sector. That is a sad reality, but at least their comments are honest. One of the problems is that the public sector has to put its supplies out to tender and accept the cheapest product that meets specifications that rarely cover standards beyond basic hygiene.

Given the pressure on public spending change looks an unlikely prospect. However the stipulation that the public sector must open contracts to all comers goes back to our days as an EU member state. They were there to meet single market rules and predictably the UK rushed then to gold plate basic EU rules. Post-Brexit those rules need no longer apply and the fact that they do is more down to cost and convenience than to any judgements about quality or a broader view of what genuinely represents best value for money from the public purse. There have been hints in the past that the government might alter rules to give UK suppliers better access to public sector contracts. Now with an overhaul of regulations around public procurement the EU has set out a road map we could usefully follow.

It is proposing that public bodies should be allowed to include much wider moral and ethical considerations when it comes to buying food on contract.

It is suggesting they should be allowed to include issues such as a fair remuneration for farmers, organic food, seasonality of production, geographical indications and animal welfare.

At first glance this looks like a big win for farmers, rural communities and consumers who face the risks associated with contracts based solely on price. Not surprisingly this has been welcomed by the farming lobby as a levelling of the playing field. This has the potential to improve EU food security and to end arguments around farmers having to compete with imported products such as Brazilian beef or poultry from Asia that does not meet the same standards. It also counters arguments that by exporting production to meet green standards Europe is exporting its environmental problem to buy back cheap food.

The big question is cost and whether the public sector can pay more to achieve wider goals than the current buy cheap approach. This change in EU thinking is a golden opportunity for farmers here to demand the same.

If they do, particularly with the devolved governments, this should be framed in a way that it becomes a demand politicians find impossible to reject without looking small-minded supporters of the Oscar Wilde comment about those who know the price of everything and the value of nothing.