HC Deb 24 February 1994 vol 238 cc423-4
7. Mr. Tony Banks

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what steps she is taking to promote the sale of British vegetables.

Mr. Jack

My colleagues and I take every available opportunity to extend and encourage the production of high-quality British vegetables with the objective of helping to boost those sales.

Mr. Banks

Is the Minister aware that at the end of the past war, the health of the nation improved mainly because of the large consumption of home-grown British vegetables? It is well known that the Parliamentary Secretary, the hon. Member for Crawley (Mr. Soames), is a self-confessed and practising carnivore. Would not it be better if, instead of having him as a bad example of excessive meat eating, we had a Government campaign to promote the health-giving properties of British vegetables? By that I do not mean the vegetables sitting on the Conservative Benches.

Mr. Jack

If that is the best we can do for dig for victory, God help us. However, I have some good news for the hon. Gentleman. In May, the Health Education Authority is to conduct a campaign to boost the consumption of, among other things, home-produced vegetables. That campaign is to be supported by such notables as sergeant Strawberry and captain Carrot. As the hon. Gentleman remains one of the self-professed socialists on the Opposition Benches, I suggest that he volunteers as private Beetroot, because he is red all the way through.

Mr. Pickles

Will my hon. Friend bear in mind the plight of lettuce growers and their concern over the proposed regulations on nitrate? I thank my hon. Friend for the work that he has done, but is he in a position to reassure my constituents, whose jobs are at stake because of the regulation on the nitrate levels of lettuce? How far has he got with the Commission?

Mr. Jack

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. He is a perfect advertisement for the lettuce growers' product. May I assure him that, at the December Agriculture Council, my right hon. Friend the Minister raised the important point of nitrate levels and their application at different times of the season and the way in which they affect British growers. Current work is considering a further new regime and I shall tell my hon. Friend of the outcome of those discussions.