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Farmers like to complain that no one buys British any more and the delicious food that they produce is ignored in favour of foreign muck.

Now their fears have been confirmed - at least as far as Whitehall and government departments are concerned.

Figures published yesterday show that only just over half of all food served in Whitehall and in public institutions, such as the NHS and prisons, is British. The rest is shipped or flown into the country.

The detailed breakdown of the £1.8 billion a year spent on meat, poultry, vegetables, potatoes and fruit for civil servants and ministers across the Government – published for the first time by Hilary Benn, the Rural Affairs Secretary – shows that only 25 per cent of bacon bought across the Government is British. About 95 per cent of the apples bought by the NHS are imports while just one in ten fish served by the Foreign Office is from British waters or farms.

Some of the worst offenders are Revenue & Customs, the Treasury and private prisons, which are supervised by the Ministry of Justice.

The figures are released as Gordon Brown appears today to support the National Farmers’ Union, the National Beef and Sheep Associations, in their attempt to obtain fair prices for beef and lamb producers.

The figures were collated from July 1, 2006, to June 30 this year, when Mr Brown was still Chancellor.

Downing Street at present does not keep records of the origin of food served from its kitchens. However, there appears to be a gulf between the warm words spoken by ministers in support of British farmers and the food served on their plate. Mr Benn has personally telephoned supermarket bosses to urge them to back British farmers suffering from flooding, foot-and-mouth, bluetongue and a new threat from avian flu.

Serving soldiers seem to be treated only a little better than prisoners as far as the quality of their food is concerned – prisoners receive no British “farm-assured” food, but less than 5 per cent of that purchased by the Ministry of Defence is farm-assured, which means that soldiers are effectively being fed on low-grade meat.

Organic food – both from Britain and overseas – comprised just over 8 per cent of the food served in Whitehall. Even diplomats in the Foreign Office find that 0.1 per cent of the morsels they enjoy is of British origin.

One of the most surprising findings in the figures is that only just over 40 per cent of apples, pears and plums served in Whitehall are British grown. Prisoners and staff in state-run prisons do not get British fruit at all, while in the NHS only 5 per cent of fruit is of British origin.

British lamb and mutton suffers a similar fate. About 43 per cent of lamb and mutton served in Whitehall originates from this country, but the taste of British mountain lamb is denied to inmates in state prisons while of the lamb used by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, only 7 per cent is British; the figure is 13 per cent for the Ministry of Defence.

There are also curious findings about British poultry. Consumers in the country buy almost 100 per cent British chicken and turkey. In Whitehall, however, 64 per cent of the poultry purchased is British – yet none of this goes to state prisons.

Mr Benn said last night that he was committed to the Government’s public sector food procurement initiative. But he made clear that there were strict EU regulations which prevented countries from favouring their own national suppliers.

However, there are a number of schemes such as in Cornish hospitals and schools in Bradford, West Yorkshire, where tenders have been issued with specifications for fresh local seasonal produce and a requirement for suppliers to reduce food miles.

Anthony Gibson, a spokesman for the National Farmers’ Union, said that he was deeply concerned by the picture. “The figures are alarming. There is no reason on earth why they should not be buying British as opposed to imported. The Government should be setting an example. The aspiration is to have a sustainable beef and sheep industry, but we can’t achieve that if departments like the Ministry of Defence are buying almost 90 per cent imported lamb and almost half imported beef.”

He called on Gordon Brown to start instructing departments to order British lamb and beef as a preference. “There are ways of getting round EU tendering rules. If there is a will there is a way. What seems to be lacking is the will.”

Peter Ainsworth, the Conservative Rural Affairs Spokesman, said that Whitehall did not understand the benefits of buying British. “On UK apples alone, 5 per cent is an appalling figure for the NHS. We have the adage ‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away’. Why can’t we have a UK apple to keep the doctor away? This will also help our farmers and cut down our food miles.”

He described as “unbelievable” the low take-up of British bacon. “This is the Government failing to put its money where its mouth is,” he said.

Peter Melchett, spokesman for the Soil Association, the organic food organisation, said the figures showed that the Government’s attitude was “grossly hypocritical” in encouraging others to buy British.

“I don’t even think the problem is one of price. I just don’t think food is something they care about. This is not just about supporting farmers it is also to cut CO2 emissions and help the environment.”

For the best local produce in your area visit the Times Real Food Directory

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