Councils spent £1m importing Thailand chickens

SCOTS councils spent more than £1 million on chicken from Thailand to be used in school meals last year, figures show.

The latest figures came to light under Freedom of Information requests by BBC Scotland to all 32 Scottish councils for food products bought last year.

Of the 28 authorities that responded, it was found £1.3m was spent on chicken products from Thailand, more than £125,000 on carrots from Belgium, £125,000 on mash potato products from France and almost £12,000 on raspberries from Serbia.

Farmers said they want to see more action by councils to source local produce, while the Scottish Greens, who first raised the issue of councils buying chicken from Thailand in 2013, voiced disappointment at a lack of progress.

The Greens health spokeswoman said: “It’s disappointing that, three years on from our investigation, this remains a problem. Our economy is losing out. Councils need support so they can buy Scottish more often.”

Talks are said to be ongoing in a bid to “upscale” chicken production in Scotland, with much of the current supply thought to be bought by major retailers.

Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing said: “Almost half of the £150m spent on procuring food per year for the public sector is sourced locally, that’s 48 per cent Scottish food.

“That is good news but we want to do more. Over the next five years there is £750m of opportunity to win publicsector food and drink contracts and we are working with producers, wholesalers and Scotland’s wider food and drink industry to unlock this.”