Our response to the House of Lords recommendations to fix our broken food system
Back in October, we warmly welcomed the report from the Food, Diet, and Obesity Committee of the House of Lords 'Recipe for health: a plan to fix our broken food system' and its series of recommendations for “a comprehensive and integrated food strategy, led at the highest level, setting targets for a healthy food system and plans to achieve them”. The Committee said the strategy should prioritise industry regulation, harness the potential of school meals, and work to promote consumption of whole and minimally processed foods. We were honoured to be part of the evidence gathering by the Lords Committee, including through our Head of Food Policy providing oral evidence in one of the inquiry sessions.
In our response to its publication, we highlighted the introduction of a multi-pronged, joined up, coherent food strategy, regulation of the food industry to provide a level playing field and protect the policymaking process, action to promote minimally processed food, the potential for schools to promote healthy diets and prioritisation of infant and maternal health as key areas of importance for the government to act upon.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)’s response to the Lords report was detailed and contained welcome recognition of the need for a “food environment that helps the healthier choice to be the easier choice for everyone” as well as the fact that “achieving significant dietary improvements at a national level will require whole system intervention across a range of areas, from school meal provision and government food procurement, through to advertising”, noting that “a cross-governmental approach with devolved governments and local government working in partnership, will be fundamental to address all the issues raised in the House of Lords Food, Diet and Obesity Committee’s report".
We also welcome recognition of the need for a food environment that “helps the healthier choice to be the easier choice for everyone” but this healthier choice must include whole and minimally processed foods, in line with the Lords’ call for the Government to commit to tackling the over-consumption of less healthy foods, including ultra-processed foods and driving up consumption of healthier, largely unprocessed and minimally processed fruits and vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds and whole grains, ensuring a healthy and affordable diet for all. Key to this will be addressing the sophisticated lobbying by the food industry to influence Government policymaking highlighted as problematic in the Lords’ report, which also called for the introduction of full transparency and clear rules of engagement with industry to avoid conflicts of interest and inappropriate influence over policy development. We were disappointed to see no commitment from the Department in this area.
The Soil Association is on a mission to make whole and minimally processed foods famous for all the health benefits they bring and as the perfect counter to the dominance of ultra-processed food in our diets. A new food strategy, announced in December by Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Steve Reed, that “guarantees access to affordable, healthy and nutritious food for everybody” provides hope for such action. We urge DHSC to work closely with Defra to enact the very necessary recommendations put forward by the Food, Diet, and Obesity Committee to bring about the necessary change to make this a reality.
The Government also acknowledges that school meal provision, school food quality and procurement play a crucial role in its mission to “break down barriers to opportunity and reduce child poverty”. Yet, this response is a missed opportunity to take action on a broken school food system, redesigning it into one that works for children, families, schools, and society as a whole.
Every child should have the nutrition they need to learn and thrive. We urge the Government to take bold action on the provision of nutritious, tasty, sustainable, properly funded school food – starting with a commitment to extending free school meals, making school funding fairer, more transparent and inflation-proof, and reviewing, updating and adequately monitoring the school food standards, ensuring they reflect the latest dietary and sustainability evidence and can apply across the whole school day.
All schools should also be supported to take a whole school approach to good food – Soil Association’s Food for Life whole setting approach offers a template for healthy, sustainable eating in schools, setting children up for a lifetime of good health.
