HALF of the UK’s leading tourist attractions now serve 100 per cent British meat, up from a third in 2018, according to a new investigation by the Soil Association.
The Out to Lunch survey, completed by 16 businesses, also found nine of the sites were sourcing local ingredients.
“We are really pleased to see visitor attractions supporting local, British farmers”, said Rob Percival, the Soil Association’s head of food policy.
“It is particularly encouraging to see this when we know caterers are dealing with rising prices, staff shortages and supply chain disruption.”
While welcoming the news, the Soil Association went on to criticise the ‘lack of transparency’ shown by the five major attractions which did not answer its questionnaire.
The survey was completed by teams of ‘secret diner’ parents, with an average of three visits per site.
Attractions were chosen on the basis of high visitor numbers and a wide geographic spread. They included theme parks, zoos, gardens and museums.
All sites were pre-warned that the survey was being completed and given six weeks to fill it out. They could also opt to meet with Soil Association experts if they wanted.
Despite this, five – Drayton Manor, the World Museum, Legoland, the National Museum of Wales and the Ulster Museum – did not participate.
“Serious concerns must be raised when an attraction does not come clean about its ingredient sourcing,” said Mr Percival.
“What is it trying to hide?”
Of the businesses which did respond, eight now serve 100 per cent British meat.
Good examples of local sourcing include Cornish meat on offer at the Eden Project, a large variety of Scottish produce at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh and Kelvingrove, Glasgow, and meat and dairy products from Cheshire and the Ribble Valley on offer at Chester Zoo.
Westonbirt Arboretum; the Science Museum; Natural History Museum; London Zoo and Whipsnade Zoo were also lauded for sourcing local ingredients.
The survey went on to reveal that fewer than half the sites served vegetables with every child’s meal, although following it, nine have committed to do so.
“That provides them with another opportunity to support British farmers,” said the Soil Association.
