UK release National Food Strategy - see reactions across the sector
Great Britain has a National Food Strategy addapted to this challenging times and reactions are coming from retailers, chefs, farmers and other segments of the food industry in the kingdom. Comprising 16 chapters, the National Food Strategy is a documents that focuses on sustainability, social issues, environment, food security and trade. Here's what the industry thinks about this white paper which may become an official document to be implemented in the following years.
Following the publication of the National Food Strategy (NFS), IGD, the organisation whose purpose is to deliver positive social impact in partnership with the food and consumer goods industry, has outlined its support for the NFS’s ambition to build a better, more sustainable food system and a healthier nation.
Susan Barratt, CEO of IGD “We support the direction of travel set out in the National Food Strategy, which aligns with IGD’s own ambition to see an acceleration in the progress towards a more sustainable food system and to make healthy and sustainable diets easy for everyone. We also welcome the NFS’s ambition to involve the whole industry in this challenge, and for providing clarity around the required dietary shift at a national level. In addition, we recognise the value of the open and transparent approach that the NFS recommends. While many of the recommendations from the National Food Strategy will prove challenging, for parts of the food system, we believe they are a constructive step in the right direction. We know from our conversations with businesses across our industry that there is a real desire to find a clear way forward and to help deliver a long-term positive change to Britain’s food system. There is now more to be done, as the government works through the details of how the recommendations will be implemented in a way that is both practical and achievable for our industry. IGD stands ready to play our part in that process; we have a unique ability to bring stakeholders together from across the whole food and grocery industry. We are ready to work with organisations across the food system to help them navigate through the implications of the National Food Strategy.”
Jamie Oliver, British Chef "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".
Sir Partha Dasgupta, Frank Ramsey Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Cambridge and author of The Economics of Biodiversity "Analytically tight, empirically thorough, the Dimbleby Report is not only a masterly study of 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".
Minette Batters, NFU President "This food strategy should act as a wake-up call for us all that we need to value the food we eat. We need to put balance back in our diet and have a renewed emphasis on eating natural, whole foods; the kind British farmers produce in abundance.
I agree that we should be supporting everyone to eat more fruit and veg, something our farmers can support by growing more, and there should be more focus on educating our children about valuing and understanding the food they eat and how it has been produced. However, it is important that we do not throw meat into one blanket category and that we all make a clear distinction between grass-fed British meat and cheap imports. We should be considering British meat in its own category, recognising its sustainability and dense nutritional value. After all, scientific and medical communities agree it is a key part of a healthy, balanced diet, chock full of essential vitamins and minerals".
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