Oral Answers to Questions Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Lord Mann
Main Page: Lord Mann (Non-affiliated - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Mann's debates with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
(8 years, 6 months ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
George Eustice
My hon. Friend is right that we had a good debate on this issue last week. As a former strawberry farmer, I can say that supermarkets pay a premium for English fruit—the quality is superior and we have better varieties. It commands a premium over both Dutch and Spanish fruit.
John Mann (Bassetlaw) (Lab)
The English Christmas could not exist without Stilton cheese, yet the Minister is refusing to allow the name Stilton to be given to the only English cheese made in the traditional way—Stilton cheese—because of some bureaucracy from DEFRA and him. An entire herd of cows in my constituency survives because of real, traditional unpasteurised English Stilton, with 45p a litre paid, keeping the dairy farmers in good profit. Will the Minister accept a full Stilton cheese to give to the Cabinet, and perhaps provide the biscuits to go with it, so that they can understand the price we pay by denying England its true traditional English cheese—and rethink?
George Eustice
I think that the company to which the hon. Gentleman refers is called Stichelton. It produces cheese using raw milk, and as a high-quality product it commands a premium over Stilton. Every single Stilton producer opposed changing the protected food name status for Stilton, and we believe that there should be some sense of consensus before changes to recipes are imposed on producers.
Neil Parish (Tiverton and Honiton) (Con)
T2. I very much welcome the Secretary of State going to China to promote great British food that is being produced to high welfare standards. What more would she like to do in co-operation with UK Trade & Investment to liberate more exports of great British food?
Elizabeth Truss
Of course, we will be promoting Stilton in China, alongside other British cheeses. It looks as though the hon. Member for Bassetlaw (John Mann) would like to accompany me on the visit. It is not too late, if he gets in touch with my office. We are linking up UKTI and the DEFRA export—[Interruption.]