UK school food is based on low cost rather best value, the report says

Cardiff University researchers say UK school lunches need to be more like Italy for both pupils and countryside.

They found Italy promoted local produce and did not confuse "best value" with "low cost," unlike the UK.

The National Farmers' Union Cymru (NFU) is lobbying Wales to follow Italy and support local food and produce.

Professor Kevin Morgan and Dr Roberta Sonnino of the university's school of city and regional planning highlighted how a national law in Italy emphasised the importance of sourcing local and organic food.

They contrasted the system for buying meals in each country and found the UK emphasised a "least cost" approach, said Prof Morgan.

"This leads to an industrial food culture, with cheap additives in school food, which is often transported a long distance rather than sourced locally," he said.

'Culture that feeds'

"The Italian approach - by far the most advanced of its kind in Europe - fosters sustainability in food procurement through knowing where food has come from and insisting that it is local.

"Although both operate within a European Union framework, the UK and Italy are at opposite ends of the spectrum of responses to that framework."

The study also highlighted an Italian government initiative, culture che nutre (culture that feeds), a school-based learning programme which aims to nurture knowledgeable consumers committed to local food.

The NFU said it was urging the assembly government to adopt the same principle as Italy.

'Guidance'

Union president Peredur Hughes said: "We should procure more food from Wales.

"Not only would it help the children, it was also help the environment because it would not have to travel hundreds of miles."

"We have been working hard for a number of years to persuade more local authorities to buy more Welsh produce, but they are always driven on price."

An assembly government spokeswoman said its guidance, Food For Thought, in July 2004, had explained that more nutritious and locally-supplied food did not mean higher costs.

She said: "The guidance highlights the need for the public sector to engage with local small and medium food providers to deliver nutritious, sustainable, value for money services, in full compliance with EU rules for procurement."