Eating Better

A new UK Government was elected earlier this month, with the widely expected result of Labour replacing the Conservatives as the governing party and Keir Starmer becoming our new Prime Minister. This presents an exciting opportunity for a change in direction on UK food policy.

Eating Better partnered with the Faculty of Public Health and the UK Health Alliance for Climate Change (UKHACC) to produce a new report 'Health professionals and sustainable diets: Policy and understanding'

“I’m truly sorry man’s dominion has broken nature’s social union.” Robert Burns, from the poem “To a Mouse” (on turning up her nest with a plough) Living and working as a farmer at Mossgiel farm in East Ayrshire in the late 1700’s, Scotland’s Bard, Robert Burns, captured in this simple line from his poem, “To a Mouse,” our connection with nature and our ability, with destructive practices, to break that union. Today Mossgiel Organic farm is a very different place, an inspiring model of better dairy production, where nature is being restored.

Eating Better regularly conducts public attitude surveys to take the temperature of where people are on the journey to shifting to sustainable diets with less meat and dairy and more plant-based foods. We examine what the trends are and what the barriers are to change. This year’s analysis also took a deep dive into food-to-go to find out what’s happening in that sector and if sandwiches, a British staple, are still popular.

The government has published its first food strategy in 75 years, in response to the independent review by its lead food adviser, Henry Dimbleby. Although the government has accepted some of the review’s recommendations, there is still a lot missing from the document, in particular the lack of acknowledgement on the need to reduce meat production and consumption to tackle the climate, nature and health crises.

At the start of the panel discussion on plant-based catering in the public sector, a poll of the 150+ attendees found that 69% think there is still a need to broaden the understanding amongst caterers as to the health and wider benefits of plant-based eating

Our Better By Half roadmap calls for sustainable food to be normalised in schools, hospitals, care homes and other public institutions, but convincing councils to improve procurement and shift to sustainable menus, requires effective lobbying and co-ordinated local action to put pressure on policymakers and procurement managers to make the necessary changes.

Jenny Chandler, self professed pulse addict, author of Pulse and Super Pulses, European Special Ambassador for the International Year of Pulses 2016 and chef for the HSI Forward Food Programme looks at the potential of putting more pulses on catering menus.

Forward Food is the Humane Society International’s plant-based programme, working with major food service and universities to put more plants on plates.

The results from our latest survey with Public Sector Catering show the sector’s continued progress towards serving less meat in public sector meals.

Major public sector catering associations have announced that they will work towards a 20% reduction in meat served.

How do you increase the knowledge and skills of chefs to equip them to create tasty, nutritious dishes with less and better meat and dairy?

What do other EU countries say about meat, sustainable diets and good health?