Welsh farming parents have expressed dismay over the food their children are being served in schools.

Local authorities across Wales in both urban and rural areas have been exposed for serving children school meals containing chicken meat from as far afield as Thailand, China and Brazil, following an investigation by the Countryside Alliance.

Concerns have already been raised around council food procurement, following a report by the Countryside Alliance last year that revealed that only 12% of local authorities were able to report data concerning what proportion of food they procured was produced in the UK.

Speaking in the Senedd in September last year, Jenny Rathbone MS (Labour, Cardiff Central) called on her own government to work on “cleaning up public procurement of food, so that we support Welsh companies to feed our children rather than importing chicken from Thailand…”, showing there to be clear discomfort within First Minister Eluned Morgan’s own party about the contents of school meals.

This Countryside Alliance’s new investigation has found that, in some council areas, Chinese and Thai chicken accounted for more than 99% of chicken served to schoolchildren. Merthyr Tydfil Council reported that 99.35% of the chicken in their school meals came from Thailand and China, and Gwynedd Council stated that 87.62% of chicken products for which data was available came from Brazil, Thailand and China - despite both these council areas being predominantly rural. Conwy and Caerphilly Councils were also particularly bad, reporting 94% and 87.32% (respectively) of their school chicken as being sourced from outside both the UK and EU.

Out of 21 councils, just two - Anglesey Council and Bridgend County Borough Council - sourced all chicken meat for schools from the UK.

Not one council was able to report the proportion of Welsh chicken they procured for school meals.

Father of three and farmer Hefin Jones, who farms in Conwy, said:

“As a Welsh farmer, I’m deeply disappointed and frustrated to learn that 94% of the chicken Conwy County Borough Council use to feed all primary school kids is imported from places like Thailand and Brazil.

"At the same time as high quality food production here in Wales is being reduced, we’re apparently expected to accept lower-quality food being shipped halfway around the world. That makes no sense for food security, animal welfare, or the climate.

"We should be backing Welsh farmers and Welsh produce, and ensuring our children are fed on high quality food that does not compromise their health. As parents we do our best to feed our kids nutritious healthy food , while our Council disrespects the health and safety of our kids.”

Rachel Evans, Director of Countryside Alliance Wales, commented:

“As a mother and a farmer, I’m shocked and disappointed that, when we have such high quality Welsh and British produce, including chickens farmed with some of the best welfare standards in the world, so much of the chicken our children are eating is being shipped in from the other side of the world.

“There’s a real contradiction here. The new Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) launched on January 1 2026 could lead to a 5% reduction in livestock numbers in the name of climate change and sustainability, yet public bodies are serving imported chicken flown or shipped in from as far away as Thailand, China and Brazil, increasing carbon emissions and lowering food standards, all while undermining local agriculture. Sustainability should start at home, by supporting Welsh farmers and producing food responsibly here in Wales.

“The Welsh government needs to take urgent action to ensure that public money spent on school meals supports Welsh farming, high food standards and sustainability.”

The Countryside Alliance is calling on Welsh government to review and reform school meal procurement frameworks to prioritise Welsh and British produce, and to introduce mandatory transparency and reporting on food provenance in public sector catering.

Our full briefing note can be read here.