Eating Better

Following the government’s announcement on mandatory reporting at the weekend, alliances representing over 200 organisations, plus 25 individual organisations representing health, farming, environment and animal welfare, are asking the government to ensure mandatory reporting goes beyond healthy sales to incorporate key health and sustainability criteria.

A new resource from Eating Better considers the health impacts of processed meat and highlights the need for public sector caterers and health organisations to focus efforts on reducing processed meat consumption in the UK.

Food service and food retail greatly influence how we shop and what we eat and holding them to account is key to shifting the dial to get us all eating better. Eating Better’s new report “Sandwiches Unwrapped 2022” looks at changes in vegetarian and plant-based sandwich ranges against meat-based ones, using the sandwich sector as a proxy to track and benchmark retailer commitment to sustainable eating. The analysis shows the sandwich aisle is still too meaty and plant-based too pricey.

Changes to menu design and language can be a low cost and effective way to encourage more sustainable diets with less meat and dairy and more plants.

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.

Local diets have global impacts. We have developed a new guide and film to support local authorities to serve and source healthier, more sustainable meals.

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

Public health bodies, farmers, MPs, environmentalists and animal welfare experts set out actions to improve what we eat