SCOTLAND'S schools and hospitals would be forced to only serve organic food in a Scandinavian style-shake-up of nutritional standards, under plans to be unveiled at Holyrood.

All meals provided in public institutions would have to use organically sourced food, as part of the shake-up proposed by Green MSP Mark Ruskell.

Last night, celebrity chef Nick Nairn said the move would be "fantastic" and a great step in the right direction".

However, the former star of the BBC's Ready Steady Cook show, predicted the change would be too expensive and complicated to deliver.

Nairn also said there was no political will to ban state institutions from serving food that is not grown organically.

The radical plan would be introduced along similar lines to a scheme in Denmark, which is credited as a world leader in promoting organic produce.

Ruskell said the scheme would cut obesity and illnesses associated with poor diets by making healthy produce readily available.

The MSP said he would propose a mandatory requirement for all public sector kitchens to serve organic food if ministers do not set out their own plans.

He said the proposal would be based on a scheme introduced by the Danish government to have a 60 percent goal for organic food served in public institutions, including care homes, nurseries and prisons.

Ruskell made the audacious call in this week's Sunday Herald’s People Behind the Power interview.

"The public sector is a way to drive these healthy food cultures," said Ruskell, the Scottish Green food spokesperson at Holyrood.

Ruskell said Scotland should take inspiration from politicians in the Danish parliament in Copenhagen on the issue.

He said: "I've looking at the amazing work that's happening in Copenhagen and many other countries in Europe showing the way by using public procurement and the public purse to drive forward a health agenda when it comes to food.

Asked if organic food should be compulsory for public sector kitchens, Ruskell said: "It's certainly something we need to be looking at.

He said: "We'd look at that and certainly take inspiration from Denmark and look at what works."

But celebrity chef Nairn said there were "too many economic barriers" to make it work.

Nairn claimed there was a lack of political will by decision makers to so drastically change the way public sector meals are provided.

He said the increased cost would put off governments and other authorities.

The chef, who ran Nairns restaurant in Glasgow, was widely seen as a posterboy to encourage Scots to turn their backs on bad diets.

Nairn, a Michelin star winning chef, has also campaigned for healthier school meals.

However, Nairn claimed his attempts to convince decision makers to introduce transformative change had failed.

Nairn said: "I was spectacularly unsuccessful after trying to tackle years of failings in the system.

"I found out that not much changed.

"Having organic food served in schools, hospitals and prisons is highly unlikely because of the money it would cost to do this.

"There's also the thought of introducing extra complexity."

Nairn said he was a huge supporter of organic food, but claimed Scotland was not ready for the change proposed by Ruskell.

He said: "I'm not against it. I'm very pro organic food, but this will never happen as there are too many economic barriers.

"Denmark is decades ahead of us in its relationship with food and we could take a leaf out of their book.

"I had lots of conversations at a very high level, but they never came to fruition and there were a lot of platitudes and hot air.

"Nothing ever happened and it was very difficult.

"I think it's highly unlikely as it would expensive.

"It would be a fantastic great step in the right direction.

"But I think it's barking up the wrong tree.

"I don't think we even have enough home grown organic food and we're miles behind in that sense.

"You would also need to get a lot of people on board to do it and you would need to convince farmers that they could make money out of it."

When asked if it could make food more expensive, Nairn said: "Yes".

Ruskell pointed out that a similar plan from the former Green MSP Robin Harper had been blocked by the Scottish Parliament in early 2003.

MSPs rejected Harper's attempt to convert 20 per cent of Scotland's farmland to organic farming within 10 years.

However, Ruskell said Scotland was now ready for a more radical approach.

The Mid Scotland and Fife MSP said: "We proposed that before and although that bill didn't get approved first session, in many ways that bill was ahead of its time."

When asked again, if he favoured a compulsory scheme, Ruskell, said: "We'll see what the government comes forward with, but that's something we'd be really looking at."

Last night, the Scottish Government confirmed that it had no plans to introduce a compulsory requirement to serve organic food in state institutions.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We have no current plans to introduce a mandatory requirement for organic food to be served in the public sector.

"However we are continually looking at ways to improve the food that served in the public sector and we’ll work with a wide range of stakeholders and interested parties to examine what further action can be taken.

“Tackling obesity is a top priority for this Government and we will consult on our new diet and obesity strategy later this year.”