To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much (a) chicken, (b) beef, (c) lamb and (d) pork supplied to the British armed forces was sourced from within the British Isles in the latest period for which information is available.

A second report on the proportion of domestically produced food used by Government Departments and also supplied to hospitals and prisons under contracts negotiated by NHS Supply Chain and HM Prison Service was published in November 2008, covering the year from 1 April 2007 to 31 March 2008. These two reports covering the years 2006-08 can be found at the following link:

http://www.defra.gov.uk/farm/policy/sustain/procurement/awareness.htm

The report gives details of the proportion of individual meat categories purchased.

Although it is too early to show a trend, the report indicates that the amount of domestically produced food consumed by Government Departments in England is increasing. The proportion of domestically produced food procured by MOD has gone up from 43 per cent. in 2006-07 to 59 per cent. in 2007-08. We expect to publish a third report at the end of 2009.