This week’s percentage-heavy nuggets span strong public support for eating a plant-rich diet, emissions-cutting blended burgers, the fast food capital of England, and growing scepticism among business leaders over the value they are getting from artificial intelligence.
69%. Members of the public who say they would like to eat more fruit, vegetables and other plant-based food than they currently do. That’s according to a poll conducted by 48 organisations who, as we cover in this week’s news, have called on the UK Government to put a shift to more plant-rich diets at the heart of its food strategy.
71.5%. The reduction in beef burger emissions achieved between 2019 and 2024 by sport and leisure caterer Levy by switching to a 50:50 burger that is half beef and half mushroom. The achievement features in Levy’s first ever climate impact report, produced using Foodsteps emissions data, which also reveals how 28 tonnes of CO₂e were saved by switching to seaweed-based packaging from Notpla.
38%. The proportion of food outlets in Ashton Under Lyme, Greater Manchester, that sell fast food. The constituency ranked number one alongside neighbour Stalybridge and Hyde in analysis mapping the prominence of fast food outlets within local communities in England. It forms part of a new dashboard by The Food Foundation highlighting how parliamentary constituencies perform across key health, diet, and poverty indicators.
43%. Less than half of senior communications leaders feel they use AI “meaningfully”, according to the Ipsos Reputation Council 2025 report. This represents a sharp drop from 58% last year. The market research company said the results show that as leaders understand AI’s complexities better, the bar for what constitutes “meaningful” use is rising.
