14 September 2012
The varied and exciting range of produce that Norfolk has to offer caused a stir in Parliament for the second year running last Thursday at the annual Norfolk Food Festival.
This Food Festival, which is excellently organised by Anglia Farmers, is a great opportunity to demonstrate the diverse range of food produced in Norfolk and the huge contribution that Norfolk makes to the UK economy, environment, countryside and agriculture. I invited Ministers from DEFRA, the Department of Health and the Ministry of Defence in order for them to see for themselves the wealth of British agricultural produce that is available, particularly from Norfolk, because wouldn’t it be fantastic if we could get our NHS patients and military personnel eating food from our region?
The event was supported by seven other Norfolk MPs and the House of Commons speaker John Bercow, who applauded the initiative and described the festival as a ‘tribute’ to all Norfolk’s producers and that it served as a ‘great reminder of the distinctiveness of local food’. We were also joined by both the Agriculture Minister David Heath MP and Eric Pickles MP, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, came to sample some of the delicious sausages, pork pies, ice cream, jam, cheese, butter, bread and beer that were on offer.
Norfolk is one of England’s premier farming counties and food and farming is Britain’s number one manufacturing industry, which is why I am passionate about promoting the huge diversity of local food we have to offer, both within my constituency and across the country.
This is why I took up the ‘Buy Local Challenge’ in August and support initiatives like the Norfolk Food Festival. It is also why I continue to be so active in pushing for high speed broadband across my constituency because the internet – and twitter especially – is a powerful tool for advertising what Norfolk producers have to offer and linking them up to consumers.
This Food Festival, which is excellently organised by Anglia Farmers, is a great opportunity to demonstrate the diverse range of food produced in Norfolk and the huge contribution that Norfolk makes to the UK economy, environment, countryside and agriculture. I invited Ministers from DEFRA, the Department of Health and the Ministry of Defence in order for them to see for themselves the wealth of British agricultural produce that is available, particularly from Norfolk, because wouldn’t it be fantastic if we could get our NHS patients and military personnel eating food from our region?
The event was supported by seven other Norfolk MPs and the House of Commons speaker John Bercow, who applauded the initiative and described the festival as a ‘tribute’ to all Norfolk’s producers and that it served as a ‘great reminder of the distinctiveness of local food’. We were also joined by both the Agriculture Minister David Heath MP and Eric Pickles MP, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, came to sample some of the delicious sausages, pork pies, ice cream, jam, cheese, butter, bread and beer that were on offer.
Norfolk is one of England’s premier farming counties and food and farming is Britain’s number one manufacturing industry, which is why I am passionate about promoting the huge diversity of local food we have to offer, both within my constituency and across the country.
This is why I took up the ‘Buy Local Challenge’ in August and support initiatives like the Norfolk Food Festival. It is also why I continue to be so active in pushing for high speed broadband across my constituency because the internet – and twitter especially – is a powerful tool for advertising what Norfolk producers have to offer and linking them up to consumers.
