<p>The Government Property Agency (GPA) is responsible for the procurement of food and drink for canteens and restaurants in a number of government buildings across Britain, including Defra buildings.</p><p> </p><p>Contractually, all suppliers appointed by GPA are required to comply with the Government Buying Standards, owned by Defra.</p><p> </p><p>The relevant part of the standards is local and environmentally sustainable sourcing<strong>.</strong></p><p> </p><p>Wherever possible, food sourcing should prioritise locally produced food and food produced to higher environmental production standards. Contracting authorities and/or tier 1 suppliers should aim for at least 50% of food spend to be on locally produced food or food certified to higher environmental production standards. Progress towards this target must be reported annually.</p><p> </p><p>This contractual provision will be monitored as part of the governance and report requirements of GPA's new contracts.</p>