Historic reform to food system needed to protect the NHS, improve the health of the nation and save our environment

• National Food Strategy calls Covid 19 a “painful reality check” that is an opportunity to transform our food system to save lives

• Calls for landmark Sugar and Salt Reformulation Tax, expansion of Free School Meals and major overhaul of food education as part of once-in-a-generation opportunity to rethink our diets and food production

• Poor diet currently contributes to an estimated 64,000 deaths every year in England

The National Food Strategy today calls on the Government to commit to a historic package of reforms in order to build a better food system for a healthier nation.

In a landmark report, food entrepreneur Henry Dimbleby sets out in stark detail how poor diets contribute to around 64,000 deaths every year in England alone and cost the economy an estimated £74 billion. Dimbleby also warns that our eating habits are destroying the environment, which in turn threatens our food security. The food we eat accounts for around a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions, and is the leading cause of biodiversity destruction.

The independent report, commissioned by the Government in 2019, calls for the introduction of the world’s first Sugar and Salt Reformulation Tax, with some of the money being used to expand free school meals and support the diets of those living in the most deprived neighbourhoods. It also calls for food education to be central to the national curriculum, and for food standards to be protected in any new trade deals.

Dimbleby also recommends measures to restore and protect our natural environment, by investing in sustainable farming techniques and new food technologies such as novel proteins. (See full recommendations below in Notes to Editors)

Major backers of today’s report include chef and campaigner Jamie Oliver, social welfare expert and former senior civil servant Dame Louise Casey, the economist Partha Dasgupta, and the chef Prue Leith.

The National Food Strategy report sets out how our diets will need to change over the next ten years in order to meet the Government’s existing targets on health, climate and nature. By 2032, fruit and vegetable consumption will have to increase by 30%, and fibre consumption by 50%, while consumption of food high in saturated fat, salt and sugar will have to go down by 25%, and meat consumption should reduce by 30%.

Author of the report Henry Dimbleby said:

“The food system is a logistical miracle, full of amazing, inventive people. With the right leadership from government, it is well within our power to change the system so it makes both us and the planet healthier.

Currently, however, the way we produce food is doing terrible damage to the environment and to our bodies, and putting an intolerable strain on the NHS.

Covid 19 has been a painful reality check. Our high obesity rate has been a major factor in the UK’s tragically high death rate. We must now seize the moment to build a better food system for our children and grandchildren.”

Jamie Oliver, chef and campaigner, said:

"This is no time for half-hearted measures. If both government and businesses are willing to take bold action and prioritise the public's health, then we have an incredible opportunity to create a much fairer and more sustainable food system for all families. Of course it’s right every child should have access to healthy and affordable food, no matter where they live - and last year has been a stark reminder that nutritious meals are vital in keeping us all healthy and resilient."

Louise Casey, Baroness Casey of Blackstock DBE, social welfare expert and former senior civil servant said:

“The pandemic has turned the divide between the rich and the poor into a gaping chasm. A terrible legacy of this time will be the exponential growth of food banks and hand-outs. Sadly the fact is that the less well off you are, the more likely you are to be prey to unhealthy food. There is a nutritional gap between rich and poor in this country, and it's a slowly unfolding tragedy. Dimbleby not only recognises this – he has a plan to do something about it. Measures like extending free school meals to more children and trialling prescriptions of fruit and veg could kickstart the change we need to see. I trust the Government will act on his advice."

Prue Leith, chef and judge of The Great British Bake Off, said:

"There is so much to celebrate about our food, but we do need to act urgently to protect our health and that of the environment. This is a compelling and overdue plan of action. If the Government adopts it, we will, at last, be putting our food system on the right path to health and prosperity.”

Sir Partha Dasgupta, Frank Ramsey Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Cambridge and author of The Economics of Biodiversity, said:

“Analytically tight, empirically thorough, the Dimbleby Report is not only a masterly study of the UK’s food problem, but it also constructs a framework wide enough to be deployed for studying the food problems societies face everywhere. The Report’s recommendations are detailed, convincing, and would be entirely implementable if we cared about ourselves and the world around us.”

Helen Browning, Chief Executive of the Soil Association, said:

"Everyone knows farming has to change if we are going to meet our climate and biodiversity goals and improve the health of the nation. But it is far, far easier said than done. Dimbleby offers a nuanced and imaginative way forward, one which harnesses the capacity of farmers and land managers to be a major part of the solution in tackling these challenges, while being fairly rewarded for their hard work and ingenuity. Many farmers are up for the challenge, but will need these recommendations to be implemented to make this possible."

Dr Michael Dixon, Chair of the College of Medicine, said:

“This report is visionary and courageous and also much needed. It provides hope at a time when Covid 19 has exposed our vulnerability as a nation, which is in part the result of our poor diet. It is also deeply practical, offering solutions that can reverse a broken system and vested interests that currently result in healthy food being least available to those who most need it.

“The Community Eatwell Programme, in particular, recognises the huge potential role of empowered local communities working with primary care to radically change our eating habits and our health.”

Tim Spector, Professor of Genetic Epidemiology at King’s College London and author of Spoon Fed, said:

“The Dimbleby report is a wake-up call to this country and government to do something about our food system and the epidemic of obesity and ill health destroying our country. We eat more ultra-processed unhealthy food than any other European country and it is getting relatively cheaper and more deadly each year.”

Sue Davies, Which? Head of Consumer Rights and Food Policy, said:

“The National Food Strategy’s ambitious proposals are long overdue and starkly set out the challenges the UK faces and how our current food system is harming our health and the planet. The Government must act on these recommendations and support consumers in making healthier and more sustainable food choices.

“The report highlights some key questions for the UK’s trade policy. Given the Government’s commitment to upholding standards and tackling climate change, it is essential that ministers heed the report’s warning on the worrying precedent the Australia deal could create and set core food standards for imports. The UK can’t work to transform its own food system and support people in making food choices that are better for their health and the environment if we allow foods to be imported that are produced to lower safety, environmental or welfare standards.”

Stephanie Slater, Founder and Chief Executive, School Food Matters said:

“There is so much to be excited about in the National Food Strategy. Henry and his team have spent two years listening and learning from families to work out the best way to support them to live healthier lives. We wholeheartedly support this bold and ambitious strategy, particularly the recommendations to extend eligibility for free school meals, to commit to at least three years funding for the Holiday Food and Activities programme and to reframe food education as a subject worthy of the same attention as English and Maths."

Mark Bridgeman, President of the Country Land and Business Association, said:

“The National Food Strategy is a welcome addition to the debate about the future of land use and food production in the UK. The strategy highlights the need to properly reward farmers for environmental improvements above and beyond what they already do, and rightly recognises the world class environmental and animal welfare standards of British food. It is precisely because of these standards that Government and industry can argue with confidence that consumers should buy British meat, fruit and vegetables as part of a healthy and environmentally conscious diet.”

Tom Kerridge, Michelin-starred chef, said:

“The Dimbleby Report has worked through an incredibly complex landscape and resulted in a set of comprehensive, eminently workable recommendations that are practical and will have a direct impact on our lives. I take great heart in several recommendations that particularly resonate and relish the opportunity to see a new generation of children given the opportunity to learn to cook. A fundamental skill no child should be without. I applaud the findings and recommendations of the report.”

Thomasina Miers, chef and co-founder of Wahaca, said:

“An incredibly important body of work with some real solutions to some of the thorniest questions around public health and climate change (and how they are inextricably linked). Part 2 of the National Food Strategy at last gives us a chance to transform both for the better and be leaders in this field, through a thorough overhaul of how we approach food and farming.”

Bill Granger, restaurateur, said:

"The culture of food in Britain has changed beyond recognition in the last 20 years, and it has been amazing to witness. But it's time for the next step.

"We all hate the idea of anyone telling us what to eat, and it never ever works. But simple measures like a sugar and salt tax that reflects the true cost of these foods will help us as food producers to look at our recipes and adjust them with more sustainable and healthier alternatives."

ENDS

Notes To Editors

The Prince of Wales yesterday used an essay on the BBC Radio 4 programme to praise Henry Dimbleby’s work and his bid to improve the nation's food system from “field to fork”.

Poor diet currently contributes to an estimated 64,000 deaths every year in England. More than half of over-45s are living with diet-related health conditions, putting an enormous strain on NHS resources.

By 2035/36, diabetes alone is projected to cost the NHS £15 billion a year, or one and a half times as much as treating all cancers does today.

The Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimates that the combined cost of food-related disease, in lost workforce productivity, low educational outcomes and NHS funds, is £74 billion every year. This is equivalent to cutting the UK’s GDP by 3.4%. To cover these costs, each person in the United Kingdom pays an additional £409 in taxes per year.

The National Food Strategy report estimates that the recommendations will cost around £1.4 billion per year and bring in £2.9 - £3.4 billion per year of direct revenue to the Treasury. Over the long term, they will have an economic benefit worth up to £126 billion.

The National Food Strategy aims to transform our food system for the benefit of current and future generations, covering the entire food chain from field to fork.

For Terms of Reference and the approach to engagement, please visit www.nationalfoodstrategy.org

For more information please contact: Joyce Omope 07599 672542 nfs@burlington.cc

Angela Jameson 07799 622438

Summary of Recommendations

The recommendations in the National Food Strategy are grouped under four objectives:

1. Escape the Junk Food Cycle to protect the NHS

2. Reduce diet-related inequality

3. Make the best use of the land

4. Create a long-term shift in our food culture

The details of each recommendation can be found in Chapter 16 of the report.

Objective 1: Escape the Junk Food Cycle to Protect the NHS

Recommendation 1

Introduce a sugar and salt reformulation tax. Use some of the revenue to help get fresh fruit and vegetables to low income families.

The Government should introduce a £3/kg tax on sugar and a £6/kg tax on salt sold wholesale for use in processed foods, or in restaurants and catering businesses. This would create an incentive for manufacturers to reduce the levels of sugar and salt in their products, by reformulating their recipes or reducing their portion sizes.

Our modelling suggests this tax would lower the average sugar intake by 4 - 10g per person per day, and the salt intake by 0.2 – 0.6g per person per day. It would reduce the average calories eaten per person per day by 15 – 38 kcal. According to the UK’s expert group on calorie reduction, this could completely halt weight gain at a population level.

The Sugar and Salt Tax could raise £2.9 - £3.4 billion per year for the Treasury (£2.3 - 2.8 billion from sugar and £570 - 630 million from salt).

We propose using some of this money to fund a series of measures to support the diets of those in deprived communities. Details of these measures are set out under Objective 2.

Recommendation 2

Introduce mandatory reporting for large food companies.

Supermarkets and the hospitality sector are extremely adept at nudging consumers towards certain products and behaviours. And the CEOs of several major food companies have told us that the pandemic has shocked them into wanting to do things better.

Voluntary measures work best if they are monitored and subject to public scrutiny. We therefore recommend the introduction of a statutory duty for all food companies with more than 250 employees to publish an annual report on their sales of various food types, including fruit, vegetables, different types of protein and products high in fat, sugar or salt (HFSS).

Recommendation 3

Launch a new ‘Eat and Learn’ initiative for schools.

Culinary skills and knowledge have declined across every social class since convenience food became widely available. It is time to take food education seriously.

We recommend the introduction of an ‘Eat and Learn’ Initiative for schools. This would ensure that children start learning about food earlier, and that all food lessons are well funded and rigorously inspected by Ofsted. The Food A-level should be brought back, to give students a clear route into the food industry. We also recommend measures to improve the overall food culture in schools.

Objective 2: Reduce diet-related inequality

Recommendation 4

Extend eligibility for Free School Meals.

After Key Stage 1 (Reception to Year 2), the eligibility threshold for free school meals is set at an annual household income of less than £7,400 before benefits. In other words, you have to be extremely poor to qualify. This means there are some children from low income families who are going hungry at lunchtime.

We recommend that the Government should increase the earnings threshold to £20,000 before benefits. This would mean a total of 1.1 million additional children getting a freshly cooked, free lunch every day.

Recommendation 5

Fund the Holiday Activities and Food programme for the next three years.

In response to Part One of this strategy the Government made Holiday Activity and Food (HAF) clubs available to all children on free school meals, for the duration of 2021. These programmes provide activities for children in the school holidays, plus at least one freshly-cooked meal a day. Currently, these programmes are funded to run until the end of 2021. We recommend that the Government should extend them for at least the next three years, or until the next spending review.

Recommendation 6

Expand the Healthy Start scheme.

Healthy Start is a means-tested scheme for low-income pregnant women and families with children under the age of four. It is also a universal entitlement for mothers under 18 years of age. The scheme provides coupons for vitamins and vouchers which can be used to buy fruit and vegetables, as well as milk. Studies on the effects of Healthy Start have shown that it plays an important role in helping pregnant women and their children access healthier foods. We recommend that the Government use some of the proceeds from the Sugar and Salt reformulation tax to expand the eligibility for Healthy Start vouchers, raising the earnings threshold to £20,000 per year (before benefits) and broadening the age range to cover children up to five.

Recommendation 7

Trial a ‘Community Eatwell’ programme, supporting those on low incomes to improve their diets.

Around 95% of NHS spend goes on treating illness, with just 5% going towards prevention This is a topsy-turvy approach: it would be more cost effective to act before people get to the point where they need expensive medical treatments.

We recommend that the government should trial a ‘Community Eatwell’ Programme, which would enable GPs to prescribe fruit and vegetables – along with food-related education and social support – to patients suffering the effects of poor diet or food insecurity. This recommendation is modelled on successful schemes from around the world. The Produce Prescription programme in Washington DC, for example, has led to around 50% of participants losing weight over the course of a prescription.

Objective 3: Make the best use of the land

Recommendation 8

Guarantee the budget for agricultural payments until at least 2029 to help farmers transition to more sustainable land use.

Under the new Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme of agricultural payments, farmers will no longer receive payments for commercial activities, or simply for owning land, but for activities that contribute to the common good. These include nature restoration, managing woodland, flood prevention, soil improvement, animal welfare and carbon sequestration.

But it is not yet clear exactly how ELMs money will be distributed, which makes it hard for farmers to plan ahead. Moreover, the total budget is only guaranteed up to the end of this Parliament, in 2024, which could mean that some farmers face a financial cliff edge. The transition to ELMs must be managed extremely carefully if the economy and culture of the countryside is to survive.

We recommend that Defra should guarantee the current level of funding until at least 2029 (the end of the next Parliament) and ensure that ELMs payments are sufficiently generous to make it worthwhile for farmers to switch from conventional farming to more sustainable practices.

Recommendation 9

Create a rural land use framework based on the Three Compartment Model.

The UK’s Net Zero pledge is written into law, with commitments for nature recovery soon to follow. The only way to meet those targets is to change the way we use the land. We therefore recommend that the Government should create a Rural Land Use Framework based on the so-called “three compartment model”, in which some areas are used chiefly for food production, some for nature and carbon sequestration, and some for low-intensity, nature-friendly farmland. Defra should create a new data map of England, with detailed information on any given area of land, its eligibility for various environmental incentive schemes, and the uses to which it would be best suited. This will help farmers, landowners and local government make good long-term decisions about how to manage our precious land.

Recommendation 10

Define minimum standards for trade, and a mechanism for protecting them.

In its 2019 manifesto, the Conservative Party pledged that “in all of our trade negotiations, we will not compromise on our high environmental protection, animal welfare and food standards”. But it has not yet said exactly which standards it means to protect, or how it plans to do so – despite having already agreed a new trade deal with Australia.

In Part One of this strategy, published in July 2020, we proposed a mechanism that would enable the Government to keep its promise without breaking the anti-protectionism rules of the WTO. When making new trade deals, the Government “should only agree to cut tariffs on products which meet our core standards”. This recommendation was repeated by the Government’s own Trade and Agricultural Commission.

The Government must draw up a list of core minimum standards which it will defend in any future trade deals, and then set out which mechanisms it intends to use to protect these standards. Otherwise there is a serious risk that cheap imported food will undermine our own efforts to protect the environment and animal welfare, while undercutting – and potentially bankrupting – our own farming sector.

Objective 4: Create a long-term shift in our food culture

Recommendation 11

Invest £1 billion in innovation to create a better food system.

We recommend that the Government should invest £1bn in research and development to help improve the national diet, develop sustainable farming practices and protect the environment. This money should go on a wide range of ideas and initiatives: everything from methane-reducing additives for sheep and cattle, to new agro-ecological techniques, to local initiatives to improve health outcomes in deprived communities. We recommend that £50m should go towards building a commercial “cluster” for entrepreneurs and scientists working on alternative proteins. This would help launch the UK into a new global food industry.

Recommendation 12

Create a National Food System Data programme.

We recommend the Government creates a National Food System Data programme, to collect and share data so that the businesses and other organisations involved in the food system can track progress and plan ahead.

This programme should span data on farming, nature, food production, distribution and retail. It should use mapping and visualisation dashboards to make it easier for users to find and compare information, model future scenarios and assess the effectiveness of different policies or logistical models. This would give the Government and the food industry an extremely powerful tool for devising, shaping and monitoring a better food system, to improve the nation’s health, wellbeing and environment.

Recommendation 13

Strengthen government procurement rules to ensure that taxpayer money is spent on healthy and sustainable food.

The Government spends £2.4 billion every year buying food – for schools, hospitals, the Armed Forces, prisons and Government offices. This represents 5.5% of the total UK food service turnover. We recommend that the Government should redesign the Government Buying Standards for Food (GBSF), to ensure that taxpayer money is spent on food that is both healthy and sustainable. It should use the updated reference diet, discussed below in Recommendation 14, to set these standards. It should also encourage procurement from local food suppliers, to improve competition and drive up standards.

Recommendation 14

Set clear targets and bring in legislation for long-term change.

The Government has already set itself legal targets for reducing carbon emissions and protecting nature. We recommend adding a statutory target to improve diet-related health. Defra should put a Good Food Bill before Parliament in the fourth session of the 2019 - 2024 Parliament.

This should include a range of measures designed to ensure to long-term improvement of the food system, including: expanding the role of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to cover healthy and sustainable food as well as food safety, and to monitor the Government’s progress towards the targets in the Good Food Bill; an obligation on the FSA to produce an updated “action plan” every five years, to maintain momentum; the creation of a national “reference diet” (to replace the current reference diet that is based solely on health) that sets out for policy makers what a healthy and sustainable diet looks like; and a legal obligation on local authorities to develop their own food strategies, tailored to suit their communities.