§ 47. Sir Ian Fraserasked the Minister of Food what is the value of the dollars or other hard currency spent during the past year on eggs in shell and powdered and dried eggs, respectively.
§ The Minister of Food (Mr. Strachey)For the year ended 30th September, 1948, the values were £6,870,000 for shell eggs and £3,681,000 for powdered and dried eggs. These sums we spent almost entirely in Canada.
§ Sir I. FraserWould it not be much more satisfactory to farmers and domestic poultry keepers, and very much more agreeable to consumers, if some or all of this money were spent on bringing foodstuffs here, so that eggs could be produced in this country?
§ Mr. StracheyNo, Sir. We have had to decrease the rate of purchase of eggs and egg products from dollar areas, but I do not think consumers would wish it to be decreased any further. At the same time we are increasing our imports of cereal feedingstuffs very largely, and hens are now receiving three times the amount of rationed food that they were getting a year ago.