Local AM puts top quality food on the table

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 17th Oct 2006

Let's get Gwent eating better - that's the message from local Welsh Liberal Democrat AM Mike German this week after AMs backed his call to tackle obesity.

Mr German led the call today for a Quality Food Strategy for Wales, designed to put Wales at the forefront of healthy eating. He was inspired to act by his work with the Monmouthshire 'Farm to Fork' programme, which takes good quality local meat from the farm to the canteens of some local schools.

Mike said: "I am concerned about rising levels of obesity in Gwent and I want children to be better educated on why healthy local food is so good for them.

Illnesses caused by poor diet cause long-term problems for the health service. Education is the best long-term answer.

"We want to get the message right to children, teaching them about healthy eating and how to cook for themselves. Too many of our children don't know how to eat well, because their parents don't know and can't pass it on.

"I have worked for two years with the Monmouthshire 'Farm to Fork' programme, a scheme that does great work explaining to schoolchildren where their food comes from. I want to see more of this kind of work between local schools and food producers.

"'You are what you eat,' so if we want to be a healthy nation, we have to get our diet right. That's I want to see a Quality Food strategy - I want to make Wales world beating, when it comes to eating.

Welsh Liberal Democrat AMs Peter Black (education), Jenny Randerson (health), Mick Bates (food production, procurement, and provision) and Mike German (summating) will all speak in the debate tomorrow.