A countryside campaign group has urged Andy Burnham to deliver Labour’s pledge that half of all food bought by the public sector is sourced from local and sustainable producers.
The call from the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) comes after Mr Burnham emphasised food and farming as key areas where the UK’s “sovereign capability” has declined.
Recent CPRE research suggests that meeting Labour’s manifesto commitment could deliver a £1 billion annual boost to British farming by redirecting public sector food contracts to local suppliers.
Graeme Willis, agriculture lead at CPRE, said: "The cut-price procurement culture Andy Burnham criticised this week has played out for far too long on hospital menus and school dinner plates across the country.
"The Food Strategy Action Plan is Burnham's opportunity to prove he means business when it comes to British farming.
"Investing in local producers to supply better quality food doesn’t have to cost more money, but will help secure a better future for British farmers, rural communities and our national food security.
"Examples from the UK and beyond show it can be done."
Mr Burnham recently criticised a procurement system that he said had focused on 'chasing cut-price deals around the world rather than helping our own British-based suppliers become more stable and competitive'.
He named food and farming alongside steel and defence as sectors where the UK must 'safeguard sovereign manufacturing and production capability.'
CPRE argues that prioritising local producers in public sector contracts would create the kind of stable, long-term demand that helps small farms compete, while keeping more public money within rural economies.
This shift could also help reverse the decline of peri-urban farms, which the group says are best placed to serve the public sector.
CPRE research shows more than 1,700 farms on the outskirts of English towns and cities have shut down since 2010, representing a loss of 56,000 hectares of farmland—roughly the size of Leeds.
A 2026 government national security assessment also warned of the need to improve the resilience of the UK food system to prevent shortages, conflict, and instability caused by environmental decline and crop failures.
CPRE argues that local, sustainable food procurement is a practical and affordable way to mitigate these risks.
Pilot schemes in Wales, Bury, and Bath and North East Somerset have already demonstrated that public food procurement can be made more sustainable with limited extra investment.
Denmark’s 2015 Organic Action Plan similarly showed that raising standards in public sector food sourcing can be achieved within existing budgets by reducing waste and focusing on seasonal produce.
The UK government’s National Procurement Policy Statement already commits to increasing the proportion of public sector food from local suppliers and certified to higher environmental standards.
However, CPRE is calling for this goal to be formalised in the government’s forthcoming Food Strategy Action Plan.
They want Mr Burnham to approach food and farming with the same urgency as other sectors he has identified as critical to national resilience.
They believe that shifting public sector food procurement to support British farmers would not only improve food security, but also protect jobs and keep investment within local rural communities.
The right procurement policies, they argue, could help secure the future of farming on the edge of towns and cities and deliver wider economic and environmental benefits.
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