Local Elections 2021

Dear Hilary Hamer

 

Thanks for your email dated 18/04/21,

 

I’d be honoured to be part of this group in helping all Hull’s residents in anyway I can to having a better lifestyle.

 

That’s if I get elected in office.

 

So if you would keep a look out on election night to see if I get elected in then by all means get in touch.

 

Kindest regards,

 

Colin Worrall 

Hi Anna, 

 

Thank you for getting in touch. 

 

The work of Hull Food Partnership feels vital to all of the residents living in Gipsyville and Newington. 

 

If elected, my pledge to you and your members, is to meet with you and your team, to learn more about the work you do, the issues you are trying to address and the solutions I can positively contribute to. 

 

Hopefully, I will be in touch soon, keep up the great work. 

 

Kindest Regards

 

Tracy Dearing 

I’m James Steele, the Yorkshire Parties candidate for Drypool ward. Sorry I couldn’t respond to your letter sooner, I’ve been busy campaigning and working. Food security is something that I care deeply about and have been affected by personally growing up. Being raised by a single parent who often got bounced around by the benefits system and spent time in prison, we often didn’t have enough food to eat. Even in times of relative security we never had anything that wasn’t frozen. 

 

I agree with the proposals in your letter including declaring Hull a ‘right to food’ city and creating a city wide food strategy for Hull. My personal proposals to help ensure that everyone has access to good food looking beyond food banks would include expanding the amount of city space dedicated to allotments. Developing mini farms in schools so that children can learn about healthy food and empower people to make good choices, also giving free school meals during the holidays.

 

To ensure that Hull becomes a healthier city I would aim to support local grocers and markets by regularly advertising through the council online services and buildings. To support local business, reduce emissions  and build a sustainable food network locally, I would push the council to give all contracts that the council controls for canteens etc to local suppliers. Also pushing other anchor institutions like Hull uni to do the same thing. I believe this would increase the general health of people, but also provide local jobs and keep wealth within our area. 

 

I hope this is enough, any more questions please feel free to email me. 

 

Kind regards,

James Steele 

Dear Anna

 

In addition to being a Labour Candidate in this year’s local elections I am also a Director of Down To Earth Hull which is signed up to Hull Food Partnership. I fully support the work that the partnership is doing and would welcome the opportunity to help progress it if successful in the local elections.

 

In response to your specific questions:

 

1) Access to good food – I agree that Food Banks are not the long-term solution, the fact that they exist indicates a huge failure of government to address poverty in this country. Hull City Council must press government for action on
– Benefit levels to bring families out of food poverty
– Food labelling to help families choose good healthy food
– Invest in education about food choices
– Work with manufacturers to reduce amounts of sugar and salt in foods
– Invest in public health to help improve people’s diets
In the shorter term, Hull City Council (currently does) and should continue to support food
bank initiatives.

 

2) I believe the Council can use it’s role as the planning authority and through environmental health and food safety to reduce or improve the number of fast food outlets. It can also encourage the growth of new small business outlets offering good quality food and produce.
The Council also already supports a number of growing initiatives and should continue to do so.

 

3) The Council has been supporting small businesses in the food sector during the Covid 19 Crisis including rent relief, grants, support and advice. It is limited in the finance offered by the Conservative Government and it is not yet clear what resources will be available post 21st June 2021. The Council should press government on this issue – I have been working with Dame Diana Johnson MP on this issue in response to enquiries from local business during the election campaign – we have written to the Chancellor.

 

4) I think the Council can review procurement methods to improve performance about using sustainable food sources and minimising waste. Where private sector providers deliver services, the contracts can be reviewed as they are renewed and where appropriate clauses inserted regarding healthy food. I also think much can be done where the council provides food options e.g. leisure centres where more choice of healthy options can be encouraged.

 

5) Reduction in food waste and Carbon Emissions is I think quite complicated – clearly we need to reduce the number of miles food travels – this would mean procuring from local suppliers (this in turn might mean encouraging the growth of different crops within a 30 mile radius of Hull). It requires encouraging people to only buy what they need, use everything and not ​ waste food including in Council departments and procurement. A clear first step maybe a training programme for Council staff to heighten awareness.

 

I hope that this answers your enquiry and look forward to working with you in the future.

 

Your sincerely
Karen Wood

Thanks for your letter and email Anna,

I look forward to meeting with Hull Food Partnership after the May election to discuss your aims in more detail and how I can help with our shared goal of ensuring the people of Hull have access to nutritious and locally sourced food.

I find it abhorrent that food banks *have* to exist at all, but the fact that they do is testament to our instinct to help our neighbours in times of need. I volunteer with, and have great admiration for Unity Shop Hull, who provide referral free food parcels for those in need and take great effort to make sure its clients know that it is not charity, but solidarity.

We saw last year in Hull how the Council drew up plans within 48 hours to supply meals for children during the school holidays after the government threatened to withdraw, and we admired activists like Marcus Rashford who stood up and used his celebrity status to highlight such a basic need. I agree with you that access to nutritious food should be a right afforded to us all.

I will work as part of the Labour Group to develop a Food Strategy alongside organisations like yours, to ensure everyone in the city has their most basic needs meet.

Yours Sincerely,

Peter North
Bricknell Labour

Hi Anna

Thanks for the letter and apologies for the delay in responding, it raises some very pressing issues and I’m very happy to respond. I think the council’s response to these challenges should be radical. Given the recent cuts from national government there is a reticence within the council to invest, content instead to trim budgets and tighten belts. I believe this is a mistake, partly because investment is needed in so many areas but also because if it is well spent it has the potential to affect outcomes in many positive ways, many of which will ultimately save money long term. The principle of tackling issues ‘upstream’ rather than dealing with the worst consequences later seems to apply most wonderfully to food. With a diet of good food people are measurably happier, healthier in both body and mind and more likely to have a positive impact in their community. To get there however needs imagination, commitment, and investment in the community organisations and institutions best placed to help. Sometimes this may mean the council needs to get out of the way and sometimes it may need to invest and to lead.

I am standing as an independent Councillor in Avenue ward in part to open doors for more independents to stand under the principles of Flatpack Democracy, aiming at a city wide campaign in 2022. I have little status in my ward and my campaign is affected by the time constraints of other commitments so I know I am unlikely to gain many votes. I am however hoping my campaign does something else. I want to help provide a framework for Flatpackery, raising it’s profile and inspiring others to be part of an increasingly independent council, free of vested interest and party politics. The issues facing the council, food related and not, are not adequately tackled by two bickering tribes, they require laser focus on the issues alone, not factionalism and pettiness. I imagine a council made up of existing community leaders free of partisan ties coming together to envision something much much better for our council and our city. I am hugely hopeful and proud to be standing on these principles.

Q1 – As a councillor I would push for investment in land, both in and surrounding the city. Land owned by the council already should be used for growing food, pocket wilderness to encourage wildlife and community gardens and open spaces. I also believe HCC should be actively looking to purchase green space and farmland around the city, borrowing money to do so. The shift away from mono-crops and huge food miles will not be made without investment and I think councils have the budget and power to make this happen. This would create an opportunity to offer smaller plots to grow more diverse crops for consumption within the city, creating jobs, some voluntary opportunities, and real education where people can learn while contributing. The land is relatively cheap and generally retains its value so risk is also low. This is a bold plan but I have read of other councils doing similar with positive results so far. Opportunities to get involved in the process of growing, transporting, preparing and cooking good food are incredibly important to building solidarity in communities rather than relying on charity. The inclusion of better quality, locally grown food at food banks coupled with support in cooking it well, can help to transition from the poor quality, food bank system to a more sustainable one.

Q2 – I work as part of Hull Delivery Co-op and we have recently worked on a healthy food pilot in partnership with Cosmo CiC. We found that there is quite a demand for healthier food when it is easy to access. The success of takeaways and ready meals are partly because of their convenience. Making healthy choices easier should be a priority for the council. Some tools available to the council include,
– Supporting healthier food business using reduced rates to encourage entrepreneurs and community groups to take shop units in food deserts.
– Subsidising and championing a city-wide pay it forward model for healthier restaurants where paying customers automatically contribute to subsidising a healthy meal to be available for someone living in relative food poverty. At the delivery co-op we have piloted such a scheme on a very small scale and it was very well received, to really tackle the issues of unhealthy food this would need to be supported city wide.
– The council should also invest in providing fruit and vegetables to areas that have limited access, by offering delivery and working with food banks and suppliers directly.
– Giving permission and financially supporting pocket food festivals all around the city as a way of bringing people together around food, sharing skills and encouraging a better way of eating in a more informal environment.

Q3 – I think the council should offer rate incentives to food businesses that employ locally, use local supply chains keeping food miles down and contribute to the local economy. I admit I’m not sure of the legality of preferring independents over national chains in such a way, but if it is possible I would be pushing for that.

Q4 – I think the whole system of food procurement should be reinvented in the city.
– Invite all the stakeholders to imagine what a good food system in Hull would look like and aim future policy firmly at that goal.
– If there is no supply of certain foods from the local area the council should encourage investment from business and community in satisfying that supply by promising future tenders to those providers. The Preston model would be the obvious example of this but I think we can go further by highlighting specific procurement problems and directly facilitating the solutions.
– Guaranteed purchasing of food grown on community farms around.

Q5 – Again it is the council who has significant power to tackle local emission contributions. Sending food waste to biomass plants is absurd when the soil we rely on is so nutrient deficient. Investment in local composting is crucial, I would aim to collect as much of the food waste as possible from residents and local businesses, compost, hot and cold, in the city and use the result to enrich local gardens, allotments and local farmland. This would take investment from the council but again the downstream benefits would be huge. Although I was delighted that the council declared a climate emergency in Hull but it is only with truly bold action will this era-defining issue be addressed sufficiently.

Overall I think we need imagination, tinkering with the current system is important but only as we nurse it out of existence. We need to be aiming at a new sustainable and just food system and that is radically different from what we have today. I don’t believe the council has all the answers but it can find them by putting much more trust in people, community groups and food institutions and facilitating them to imagine a better way; and then helping them in delivering it. The challenge is huge but incredibly important. I have some ideas that I’ve mentioned here but there are many more qualified people than me with many better ideas, if the council is to succeed it should find those people and empower them in every way it can.

Thanks again.

Dear Hilary, Anna and Cara,

Thank you for the letter and raising the issues relating to food in Hull.
As a Specialist Community Public Health Nurse, working with children and families, I see daily, the impact of poverty related issues and the effects on their health and wellbeing.

I am 100% committed to changing this and I support free health, sustainably sourced free school meals.

If elected, I want to work with grass roots organisations to help spread the message that we must become more sustainable, I would like to learn more about the Hull food partnership and it’s plans for the future.

I support all 6 of your food action plan key issues and if elected I will meet with you, and we can discuss how, as an elected member of the Holderness ward I can support the initiative.

Kind Regards

Anna Thompson

Hello Anna,

Thanks for your letter of 18th April which was passed onto me this weekend, regarding supporting a healthy & resilient food culture in Hull. I’m very happy to do my best to address the questions that you set out, though as a new candidate for Bricknell Ward rather than a currently sitting councillor I suspect that there’ll be many areas and options that I’m not yet aware of and can learn about further if elected, so some of my answers are reflective of my general principles.

It’s worth me flagging up that I currently work within the renewable & low carbon energy sector, as I have for the last five years, so issues around sustainability and better use of our environment are very close to my heart. I have also worked within the food & drink sector, representing the national Food & Drink Federation, so have some knowledge of the industry at a macro level.

1. The numbers of individuals and families experiencing food insecurity is troubling, and I recognise that Hull (and many other Northern urban areas) has a particular issue with this. I also recognise that this has become more of a problem during the pandemic as other economic factors have had a negative impact and choices have become more limited. I believe that more can be done in terms of education at all ages on making nutritional healthy meals at low cost and to ensure that healthier alternatives are made more available at better value. I believe in free but informed choice, and I’d certainly like to see more readily available nutritional healthy food available on the streets of Hull, rather than the only ‘fast food’ options being unhealthy and relatively expensive.

2. I agree with your analysis that it’s easy to make ill informed choices when presented with limited options and limited information. I fundamentally believe in free choice, but also believe that this must be informed. For this reason I am very much in favour of calorie and other relevant nutritional information being prominently displayed on food and drink packaging, labels and advertising. I also think it is important for this information to be displayed in a format which is easily understandable to a wide and diverse audience. Actually I believe that many national chains have led the way on this, but I think a lot more could be done by local takeaways for example. I would also like to see more healthy ‘fast food’ options available on our local streets – it is entirely possible to have healthy alternatives to many of our much loved takeaways and I’d like to see businesses that seek to promote this encouraged.

3. I previously worked at the national Food & Drink Federation which represents much of the food industry across the UK so understand the economic importance of the sector. I also recognise the importance that it has locally, in terms of agriculture, fishing, manufacturing and packaging, which provide employment and skills throughout the Humber. As a Conservative, I support aspiration and entrepreneurial endeavour, and I’m just as supportive of SMEs and start-ups as I am of larger corporate companies. I also believe in a low tax, low regulation economy which gives people the freedom to start and grow businesses, rather than tying them down with disincentives.

4. I absolutely believe that procurement is a key lever to enforce preferences around food quality, nutrition and value, and I believe that public sector bodies should seek to use this, as well as encouraging private businesses to do the same. I do believe that we need to overcome the stereotype that quick, easy, low cost food is automatically unhealthy – there are certainly healthy alternatives available at good value and these should be prioritised.

5. For many years I have worked within the low carbon and green energy sector, so issues around emissions and lowering our carbon footprint are close to my heart. I believe that we need to incentivise more sustainable activities and lower emissions, and there have been many steps taken towards this over the last decade or so. It does need to be recognised that often companies and sectors need to transition slowly and sensitively in order to protect the jobs and skills that they support, so I’m in favour of a carrot over stick approach which recognises the realities of the industry that we have around us. I am absolutely in favour of more composting, recycling and better use of waste, and have worked on several projects promoting these initiatives in the past.

Let me know if you need anything else. I’d be grateful if you could send me a link to the final publication of all responses.

Many thanks

Richard Royal
Conservative Candidate

Dear Anna, thank you for your email and attached letter. It would be have been helpful if you had included a deadline by which you were seeking replies, before you published the list of candidates who had responded.

I have always been an active supporter not only of free school meals but also healthy school meals, and as a local councillor I am happy to support the aims outlined by Hull Food Partnership and work with you to achieve these ends. It is an ongoing battle, but one that I genuinely believe we can win once those taking decisions at national level are of a different political persuasion. In the meantime, the Labour Council in Hull is doing all we can to improve levels of nutrition in those establishments where we still provide school meals.

Challenging food poverty is vital and of course I would support the Partnership in doing everything possible to alleviate the misery that so many families suffer. I am involved with the Unity Shop Food Bank in delivering parcels to families in need in Orchard Park Ward. I established the Council’s project for collecting donations for the food bank at both Hull FC and Hull Kingston Rovers home fixtures during the 2019 season – an activity which regrettably has had to be paused because of the Covid-19 crisis. Of course, it’s not always possible to ensure that donations offered are of the healthiest kinds of foods, but I believe I actively work towards minimising the levels of hunger among our young people in the city.

I hope the foregoing is helpful.

With kind regards.

Rosie Nicola

Labour Councillor

Orchard Park Ward

Dear Hull Food Partnership,

Thank you for your email regarding the above.

I am a paper candidate for the University Ward, so I am not actively campaigning in this Ward, although I am helping next door in Bricknell Ward, which is actually where I was born.

Even though I will not be elected, I am very happy to support your aims and objectives in this very important area.

I am happy to answer your questions as follows:

Q1 The key to reducing food insecurity is to ensure that the wealth created by the new jobs to be created in the renewables industry are taken up by Hull residents and that secure, high skilled, well paid employment opportunities maximised. This will reduce inequality and deprivation in the City.

If contractors from outside the City take up these jobs and do not live here, we will have failed and nothing will change!

It is forecasted that 60k new jobs will be created in this area alone in the Humber region. Local people must have the opportunities to take up these roles. Education and training is key to this being achieved.

Q2. There is no such things a junk food, just junk diets. Low incomes should not means living off takeaways only. People need to be educated to learn how to cook healthy food and take more exercise.

I would be in favour of a sugar tax but generally people have to take responsibility for themselves and their families.

Q3. We need many more local independent food growers, restaurants, cafes and food shops. This reduces food miles and provides healthy local produce, good jobs and makes for interesting shopping experiences.

Hull City Council should incentivise the empty shops in Hull City centre by allowing local traders to take up empty shops with low rents and nil Council tax. If visitors buy from traders who themselves use local growers, everyone benefits.

Q4. Schools are key to all of the above. They educate children (and parents!) and by using healthy locally produced food, provide a huge buying power to sustain independent local businesses.

This is not rocket science, it’s common sense! Just do it!

Q5. I fully support this objective.

Keep up the good work, everything you are doing is vital and very important.

Education – Training = Jobs – Healthy Food/Exercise – Independent food growers – Independent Food Outlets = more jobs – reduced food miles = less carbon = Virtuous Circle! – Healthy, employed Hull people!

I appreciate this will not be possible for everybody, hence the need for continued support, but it will make a difference to the vast majority if done correctly.

I am sure that Councillor Steve Wilson will also continue to support you too when he is re-elected.

Best wishes,

Mike Whitehead

Dear Anna,

Thank you for your email. I am writing on behalf of the Liberal Democrats. The Hull Liberal Democrats are aware of just how serious food poverty is as an issue across the city. The pandemic has sadly only seen this problem exacerbated, it isn’t right in the 21st century – it shouldn’t be happening, but it is.

Like many others, members of the Liberal Democrat team are involved in delivering food parcels and working with other volunteers, especially during this pandemic. We believe in getting involved.

The Liberal Democrats are keen to see more support for those organisations providing this work across the city and helping find ways for them to work better together.

Q1: Hull Food Partnership believes that good food is a right not a privilege and food banks are not a long-term solution to solve hunger and food insecurity. Our high levels of food insecurity have risen dramatically during the pandemic. What will you do as a councillor to ensure that everyone has access to good food with dignity and look beyond food banks for solutions?

The Liberal Democrats share this concern. Our councillors voted for a motion to develop a food strategy to address food insecurity in the city long-term in March 2021. As Liberal Democrats, we also believe in thinking globally and acting locally – this means we would empower communities to grow their own food by protecting, promoting and expanding the offer of allotments around the city.

The Liberal Democrats in Hull would look to utilise council assets to create fresh food drop-off and pick-up points – those who have an excess of freshly grown food can share their excess and those in need can collect it during Council buildings operating times. This could also see donations that directly fund education programmes around healthy food.

Q2: Covid-19 has laid bare the risks of health inequalities and obesity. We know that unhealthy food environments including junk food advertising, proliferation of takeaways and food deserts –where there simply are no shops offering healthier food such as fresh fruits and vegetables –lead people to make the wrong food choices. What will you do as a councillor to ensure Hull becomes a healthier city?

As stated previously, the Liberal Democrats would utilise the donations received from a new drop-off and pick-up fresh food scheme in publicly facing Council buildings to provide education programmes around healthy eating.

We would also want to see more made of the Government’s funding for ‘Holiday and Food Programmes’ with a series of summer and winter school holiday healthy food events for young people to attend.

Q3: The food sector is a major employer in Hull. Many food businesses, from growers to restaurants, who provide vital jobs in our local economy, have been hit the hardest. But Covid-19 also demonstrated that smaller-scale and localised food supply chains are resilient and can adapt to demand and support the emergency response. What investment are you planning in the local food economy to safeguard our small and medium-sized enterprises?

The Liberal Democrats in Hull believe in creating a supportive planning and licensing process that is proactive to ensure that local businesses are maximising their outdoor space within the Covid19 guidelines. This will help restaurants generate maximise their income potential and prevent any closures due to Covid19 compliance issues.

Q4: Catering and procurement across nurseries, schools and colleges through hospitals and care homes to workplace canteens is a powerful lever to create large-scale demand for healthy, sustainable and local food. How will you use catering and procurement to revitalise local and sustainable food supply chains and reduce the climate impact of the food bought by the council?

A Liberal Democrat Council would recognise the value of health and the environmental impact procurement decisions have. Locally grown food is more environmentally friendly and so this should see more locally sourced food offered by Hull City Council’s catering service.

A Liberal Democrat Council would seek to work alongside schools in addressing this concern, recognising, of course, the environment within which schools now operate, outside of direct local authority control.

Q5: Almost one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions come from food and agriculture. Hull City Council has a role in procuring food for schools and other services, manage waste and composting, local land use and has a significant role in shaping the diets of residents and the food available locally. What actions will you support to reduce food-related emissions in Hull?

The Liberal Democrats in Hull understand that locally sourced food is both more stable, sustainable, healthier and importantly more environmentally friendly – it travels fewer miles and so has a lower carbon footprint. That is why a Lib Dem Council would seek to protect, promote and expand the offer of allotments for residents to grow food locally.

A Liberal Democrat Council would not only use ‘quality’ and ‘value’ to determine which contract it procures, it would consider ‘environment’. This would give locally sourced food a better chance to compete for contracts.

Yours sincerely,

Mike

Dear Anna,

Thank you for your email. I am writing on behalf of the Liberal Democrats. The Hull Liberal Democrats are aware of just how serious food poverty is as an issue across the city. The pandemic has sadly only seen this problem exacerbated, it isn’t right in the 21st century – it shouldn’t be happening, but it is.

Like many others, members of the Liberal Democrat team are involved in delivering food parcels and working with other volunteers, especially during this pandemic. We believe in getting involved.

The Liberal Democrats are keen to see more support for those organisations providing this work across the city and helping find ways for them to work better together.

Q1: Hull Food Partnership believes that good food is a right not a privilege and food banks are not a long-term solution to solve hunger and food insecurity. Our high levels of food insecurity have risen dramatically during the pandemic. What will you do as a councillor to ensure that everyone has access to good food with dignity and look beyond food banks for solutions?

The Liberal Democrats share this concern. Our councillors voted for a motion to develop a food strategy to address food insecurity in the city long-term in March 2021. As Liberal Democrats, we also believe in thinking globally and acting locally – this means we would empower communities to grow their own food by protecting, promoting and expanding the offer of allotments around the city.

The Liberal Democrats in Hull would look to utilise council assets to create fresh food drop-off and pick-up points – those who have an excess of freshly grown food can share their excess and those in need can collect it during Council buildings operating times. This could also see donations that directly fund education programmes around healthy food.

Q2: Covid-19 has laid bare the risks of health inequalities and obesity. We know that unhealthy food environments including junk food advertising, proliferation of takeaways and food deserts –where there simply are no shops offering healthier food such as fresh fruits and vegetables –lead people to make the wrong food choices. What will you do as a councillor to ensure Hull becomes a healthier city?

As stated previously, the Liberal Democrats would utilise the donations received from a new drop-off and pick-up fresh food scheme in publicly facing Council buildings to provide education programmes around healthy eating.

We would also want to see more made of the Government’s funding for ‘Holiday and Food Programmes’ with a series of summer and winter school holiday healthy food events for young people to attend.

Q3: The food sector is a major employer in Hull. Many food businesses, from growers to restaurants, who provide vital jobs in our local economy, have been hit the hardest. But Covid-19 also demonstrated that smaller-scale and localised food supply chains are resilient and can adapt to demand and support the emergency response. What investment are you planning in the local food economy to safeguard our small and medium-sized enterprises?

The Liberal Democrats in Hull believe in creating a supportive planning and licensing process that is proactive to ensure that local businesses are maximising their outdoor space within the Covid19 guidelines. This will help restaurants generate maximise their income potential and prevent any closures due to Covid19 compliance issues.

Q4: Catering and procurement across nurseries, schools and colleges through hospitals and care homes to workplace canteens is a powerful lever to create large-scale demand for healthy, sustainable and local food. How will you use catering and procurement to revitalise local and sustainable food supply chains and reduce the climate impact of the food bought by the council?

A Liberal Democrat Council would recognise the value of health and the environmental impact procurement decisions have. Locally grown food is more environmentally friendly and so this should see more locally sourced food offered by Hull City Council’s catering service.

A Liberal Democrat Council would seek to work alongside schools in addressing this concern, recognising, of course, the environment within which schools now operate, outside of direct local authority control.

Q5: Almost one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions come from food and agriculture. Hull City Council has a role in procuring food for schools and other services, manage waste and composting, local land use and has a significant role in shaping the diets of residents and the food available locally. What actions will you support to reduce food-related emissions in Hull?

The Liberal Democrats in Hull understand that locally sourced food is both more stable, sustainable, healthier and importantly more environmentally friendly – it travels fewer miles and so has a lower carbon footprint. That is why a Lib Dem Council would seek to protect, promote and expand the offer of allotments for residents to grow food locally.

A Liberal Democrat Council would not only use ‘quality’ and ‘value’ to determine which contract it procures, it would consider ‘environment’. This would give locally sourced food a better chance to compete for contracts.

Yours sincerely,

Mike