Some 160 organisations have joined together to form a new “alliance of alliances” coordinated by Eating Better, Sustain, Obesity Health Alliance, Wildlife and Countryside Link and the Plant-based Food Alliance.
“[…] we formed the Food Strategy Alliances to ensure civil society organisations working across the food sector have a coherent voice and unified role in supporting the development and delivery of a successful UK Food Strategy,” the new group noted in an open letter to Defra secretary Emma Reynolds as they set out their key asks.
The mega-alliance said the top priorities for government should be to:
- create a joined-up healthy food and sustainable farming plan – backed by legislation
- put nature and climate friendly farming and growing at the core of the food strategy
- make healthy, sustainable, culturally appropriate diets affordable and accessible to everyone in the UK.
The alliance said: “We are clear that primary legislation is necessary to achieve the vision and priority outcomes of the food strategy, provide a framework for accountable action, and to future-proof our food system for the long-term. However, we also provide asks that do not necessarily require legislation to enable progress; for example, redirecting funding, updating existing regulations, and implementing existing policies more effectively.”
There is unsurprisingly a heavy emphasis on support for nature-friendly farming, which must form the foundations of our food production system. There are also asks relating to supply chain fairness, transparency, labelling and support for horticulture. Policies designed to shift from the junk food cycle to the government’s vision of a ‘good food cycle’ are also included.
Foodservice companies will want to take note of ask ‘3.3: Reform public sector food’. This involves the establishment of legally-binding minimum standards for healthy, sustainable and locally-sourced meals across the public sector, including nurseries and schools. The Government Buying Standards for Food (GBSF) should also be revised and extended to nurseries and schools, the alliance said. Menus include more plants, and less and better meat and dairy, with compliance monitored and evaluated regularly.
To hit the ground running on all of this, the UK Government should, “at the earliest opportunity”, introduce a new Food Bill “which will put in place the food system impact targets, and long-term levers, that will support the cross-government action that is needed to transform the food system for current and future generations”.
This will also need to tie in with the Environmental Improvement Plan, Net-Zero Strategy, Land Use Framework, the 25-Year Farming Roadmap, Animal Welfare Strategy, Nitrogen Strategy, the Circular Economy Strategy, the Methane Action Plan, Carbon Budget and Growth Delivery Plan, and the Horticulture Growth Strategy.
The government setting out its Good Food Cycle vision for a healthier, more affordable, sustainable and resilient food system and its 10 priority outcomes has been welcomed by civil society, as have other policy commitments on food since Labour came to power, explained Glen Tarman, director of policy and advocacy at Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming.
“Now it’s time to build on encouraging progress with better policy and delivery on food and farming in this Parliament and beyond,” he added. “Ahead of the promised Food Strategy action plan in the Spring, civil society organisations are setting out what needs to happen for us to know we will truly have a national, regional and local, cross-thematic Food Strategy that will meet the government’s stated aims and make the UK food system fit for all.”
