The start of December often marks a flash flood of fine reports relating to food. This week’s Digest therefore attempts to tie a number of threads together into a comprehensive 500 words or so. Here goes…
Some 160 organisations provide the foundations for a new “alliance of alliances” coordinated by Eating Better, Sustain, Obesity Health Alliance, Wildlife and Countryside Link and the Plant-based Food Alliance. “We have formed the Food Strategy Alliance of alliances to ensure civil society and the food sector has a coherent voice and role in supporting the delivery of a successful Food Strategy [for England],” reads the inaugural statement and key policy asks.
The alliance continues: “We recognise that poor diets are holding back economic growth. We therefore welcome the UK Government’s commitment to this exciting, transformative and cross cutting policy agenda. We want to support policymakers to meet the opportunities of the upcoming Food Strategy at this important moment for the future of food and farming in the UK.”
The Food Strategy Alliance has taken months to pull together. “Anyone who has been involved in collective letters and work knows how much it takes to bring organisations together for a united message,” explained Sarah Wakefield of the Eating Better Alliance in a social media post yesterday (December 4th). “This group is designed to give clarity to government on what progressive organisations will support on policy and enable brave decision making,” she added.
This is certainly timely as the government looks to flesh out its strategy – the bones of which were widely welcomed in July – with an action plan expected by spring next year. The mega-alliance wasted no time in alerting Defra secretary Emma Reynolds to its vision and intent: they sent her a 10-page document of actions, as well as an open letter (see our other stories this week).
There is unsurprisingly a heavy emphasis on support for nature-friendly farming – which should form the foundations of our food production system. WWF-UK, which is also involved in the new alliance, this week said the UK’s “broken food system is causing environmental collapse and creating volatility in supply and price”.
The warning came as the NGO published an update on the environmental progress supermarkets are making. In summary: not much. Drawing on data from 10 retailers (Aldi, Asda, Co-op, Lidl GB, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose), 2025’s What’s in Store for the Planet report assesses the progress on environmental action of 90% of the UK grocery market and concludes that “action on reducing environmental risks is stagnating”.
The Food Foundation also laid into food retailers this week – including those in foodservice. The NGO’s annual State of the Nation’s Food Industry report revealed that food industry giants are finding “loopholes” in government regulation intended to protect young people from junk food. Outdoor advertising spend by food companies for example increased by 28% between 2021 and 2024, following the government’s announcement in July 2020 of a ban on TV and online advertising. McDonald’s was “the worst offender” increasing outdoor advertising spend by 71% between 2021 and 2024.
In January 2026 a ban on adverts for food and drink that are high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) on TV before 9pm and online will be introduced (the ban has been delayed due to industry lobbying – another issue highlighted to the Defra secretary by the new alliance this week). The foundation’s report shows that since this ban was announced food industry giants have simply shifted to other forms of advertising, undermining efforts to protect young people from their influence.
The report comes just weeks after The Lancet published a series of papers showing the rise of Ultra-Processed Foods is damaging public health, fuelling chronic diseases worldwide, and deepening health inequalities (see Footprint’s analysis this week here).
And sticking with science, finally, is news of the national emergency briefing held recently in London. Much like the televised national briefings delivered during Covid, the aim was to deliver sober, science-based overviews of the various climate and nature crises that the UK faces, explained Paul Behrens, British Academy Global Professor, Future of Food, Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford, and one of the eight experts who delivered the briefing.
Some 1,200 of the UK’s leaders — across politics, business, faith and culture — turned up, with the emphasis on engaging the UK’s very distracted political class, according to Mike Barry from the Planeatry Alliance. The event wove nine “brief but utterly compelling presentations together to ‘join the dots’ on the science of climate/nature collapse and, crucially, what the ‘real world’ implications of this would be for our societal stability, national security, health, food system and economy”, Barry explained, adding: “Many in the room might have felt that they’d heard much of it before but in practice, for most of us, however steeped in this world we are, the majesty of the briefing was turning the scattered jigsaw puzzle pieces into a single clear picture.”
If only we could manage that every week in the Digest.
Our other articles this week include some more detail on the new mega-alliance (including their demand for reform of public sector food) and some disturbing research on the forever chemicals sprayed on iconic Californian crops. Plus new research from Heineken shows how happy consumers are to say ‘no thanks’ to alcohol these days.
