Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:01 pm on 31 January 2023.
Thank you. As I said, food supply is really wholly integrated across the UK. We've got very diverse international supply chains as well for both imports and exports. I don't think there is a general shortage of fruit and vegetables. They're widely available. So, I don't think there is a risk to either the free school meals policy or public health. We are trying to tackle this issue. You mentioned the work I've been doing in relation to horticulture. I'm told that horticulture is an area where we want to really see an expansion of the agricultural sector, and I'm using rural development programme funding, for instance, to have new windows for people to apply for funding in relation to doing more around horticulture and growing fruit and vegetables.
We do need to continue to engage in discussions with UK Government and other devolved Governments, as I say, around the agri-food supply chain. And I do it as a Minister—officials certainly do it, but I do it as a Minister. I meet with a range of partners—farmers, processors, manufacturers, retailers—to get the information that we need. We keep that under constant review to make sure there is no shortage of fruit and veg.