13 Jun 2022 Food Strategy White Paper: Food Active Response
The long-awaited Food Strategy White Paper, the Government’s response to Henry Dimbleby’s National Food Strategy, has finally been published.
However, compared to the ambitious recommendations laid out in the National Food Strategy (which would go a long way to help address issues such as food insecurity and breaking the junk food cycle), the Government’s response fails to measure up in ambition and scale.
The paper includes commitments on the following:
- Land use strategy by 2023
- Mandatory reporting by industry on health, and explore the same on environment and animal welfare
- Publishing a consultation on public food procurement, with the goal of 50% local or higher standard food
However, it includes no action to support families to eat well amid the cost of living crisis, and ignores recommendations on introducing a sugar and salt tax.
Nicola Calder, Food Active Programme Lead, said:
“This strategy was supposed to position the UK as a world leader in food and environmental issues and address important public health challenges such as food insecurity, obesity and climate change.
Today’s response is just another missed opportunity by the Government to show their commitment to prioritising population health.
We can only hope that the upcoming Health Disparities White Paper includes the bold action that is needed to support communities across the country to access healthy food.”
To read the full strategy, click here.
