§ 57. Major Beamishasked the Minister of Agriculture if he will describe briefly the work done by the Village Produce Associations since they were set up in 1939; what has been the average annual subsidy paid by his Department; what is the total membership of the organisation; and whether he will give an assurance that he will continue to take full advantage of the voluntary workers of this movement.
§ Mr. G. BrownVillage Produce Associations have given great assistance in the campaign for increased domestic food production in rural areas including fruit or vegetable growing and the keeping of pigs, poultry, rabbits, goats and bees. In many instances they have been responsible for communal schemes for the cultivation of potatoes and the co-operative disposal of surplus products. They have assisted their members by bulk buying of seeds, fertilisers, etc., and some have purchased small tractors and other implements for communal use.
County Garden Produce Committees are at present responsible for the organisation of Village Produce Associations and since 1941 the average annual total of grants paid to these County Committees has been£5,930; the average annual expenditure of the County Garden Produce Central Committee which supervises the work of the County Committees has been£1,220. The total membership of Village Produce Associations is estimated to be about 100,000.
My right hon. Friend has accepted in principle the report of the Committee on the Organisation of Domestic Food Producers, which among other things recommends that the National Allotments 264W and Gardens Society Limited, if reconstituted on lines designed to secure specific rural representation, should be recognised as representative of the allotments and gardens movement in both urban and rural areas. He is quite sure that a new body constituted on these lines would be only too anxious to take full advantage of the knowledge, experience and enthusiasm of the voluntary workers of the Village Produce Associations.