SOUTH West food producers are pleading for the chance to prove they can fulfil a public sector contract after a new report criticised the Government over buying food for institutions such as hospitals and schools.

The Good Food For Our Money campaign, run by Sustain, accused the Government of "failing to prioritise health, environmental and ethical concerns".

The researchers examined Government data on food purchases over the past two years, and quizzed a leading organisation that supplies the NHS.

They found that the way that the Government bought food undermined "its own policies to promote health, protect the environment and support local farmers and food growers".

The report comes one year on from the Government's Food Matters report, setting out ambitious plans for public sector food to be "leading by example" with "more nutritious, environmentally sustainable food".

The national survey by Sustain, an alliance for better food and farming, found that institutions in agricultural counties often failed to buy produce from local farmers.

The report also revealed that NHS Supply Chain, the private company responsible for managing food contracts for the NHS and the school fruit and vegetable scheme, was not integrating sustainable development criteria into the current tender process for the scheme.

John Sheaves, chief executive of Taste of the West, said the organisation had been working hard to make sure it had the mechanisms in place to supply the public sector.

"The fact of the matter is it's very, very hard to get hold of these contracts," he said.

"Despite a lot of hot air from the Government, we've found it very, very difficult to get involved. We'd love to get hold of a contract at a hospital or a school where we could prove the point and supply quality, regional produce at the right price."

He added: "That's a real plea – we've got the mechanism in place."

As the Government named the South West the UK's first Low Carbon Economic Area, he said this should be backed up by a "sustainable supply chain" of food being fed into schools, hospitals and other public bodies.

Ian Johnson, spokesman for the NFU in the South West, also welcomed the report.

He said: "The message and signals that are sent out by the Government's actions are rather different to the rhetoric. They need to match their words with their actions."

He added that there was no "joined-up thinking" about the "greater good".

Mr Johnson pointed to the groundbreaking work of Roy Heath, the sustainable food development manager at Cornwall NHS Trust, who had revolutionised the county's hospital food by using local produce.

Although Mr Heath was hoping to take this work elsewhere, Mr Johnson said: "He's only one man – it takes a culture change."