29/11/21 - Seasonal Worker Pilot, water sustainability and public sector food procurement

Farming Today

• Episode: 29/11/21 - Seasonal Worker Pilot, water sustainability and public sector food procurement
• Website: Farming Today
• Feed URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qj8q/episodes/downloads.rss
• Duration: 00:11:36
• Published: 2021-11-29 07:00

People in Azerbaijan, Ukraine and Nepal are apparently keen to work on UK farms. The Association of Labour Providers tells us all three countries have been liaising with companies running the Government’s Seasonal Worker Pilot scheme. Meanwhile, the Home Office says a decision on the future of the pilot will be made “in due course”. Water is no longer something that farmers take for granted - over the past few years we’ve reported on both very wet weather and long dry spells destroying crops. Now 50 leading UK food and drink companies have signed up to support a new Water Roadmap, which aims to improve the availability and quality of water across 20 target areas. And the campaign group Sustain wants the Government to buy more - and higher quality - British food for the public sector. It says the £2.4 billion budget spent on food for hospitals, prisons and schools should support British farmers, spend taxpayer money in rural areas and provide people with healthier food. Presented by Charlotte Smith Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons