The Food Foundation

(!) Exciting opportunity (!) to get involved in a research project we are advising on. This is a chance to work with a great team, developing your research skills and digging into questions around Regenerative Agriculture and food system shifts. More details below 👇

🎬 Don't worry if you missed our webinar with Kath Dalmeny - CEO of Sustain: The alliance for better food and farming - reviewing major food policy developments in 2024. You can watch her conversation with our Executive Director Anna Taylor for 30 minutes of snap analysis here: https://lnkd.in/e3qPyr9v #junkfood #foodsystems #farming #investors #foodbusinesses #climate #nature #health #horticulture #soilhealth #environment

‼️ 470,000 unregistered children who are eligible for Free School Meals in England are missing out! That's why we've partnered with FixOurFood and Bremner & Co to lead a group of nearly 100 schools, charities, universities and local authorities in writing to Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson and Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall calling for those who meet the criteria to be automatically enrolled. Learn more: ➡️ https://lnkd.in/e8fZjnzU #ChildrensWellbeingBill #FreeSchoolMeals #foodpoverty #schoolfood #costoflivingcrisis

⌛ Time is running out to sign up to our webinar with Kath Dalmeny - CEO of Sustain: The alliance for better food and farming - and our Executive Director Anna Taylor tomorrow! They'll be reviewing the year in food policy and discussing Labour Party (UK)'s new food strategy for 30 minutes at 11am. Free sign up: https://lnkd.in/eya6ghwu

Last week was a whopper week for food policy! (all links in comments) 🙌 📅 Tues– Rt Hon Steve Reed OBE MP briefed stakeholders on his plans to develop a new food strategy. 📅 Weds – the Government published its 3-yearly food security assessment. It’s a very useful compilation of key statistics on the state of food security (in all its dimensions). Its summary states: The impacts of climate change, biodiversity loss and water insecurity both at home and abroad remain pressing risks to food security. They drive volatility in the present and put sustainability and resilience of food production at risk over the longer term. These risks are also now interacting with heightened geopolitical tensions. Our work (notably Shona Goudie) is extensively cited in Theme 4: Food Security at Household Level – describing in detail the deterioration in household food security in the UK. Also worth noting is indicator 2.1.4 – showing the decline in veg production in the last 3 years; and also the shocking graphs on biodiversity (indicator 2.2.5) and on global land degradation (1.5.1). You can hear a summary on our podcast from Hannah Brinsden. 📅 Thurs there were two important reports: 1)      The Govt published The National Planning Policy Framework which sets out the Government’s planning policies for England and how these should be applied.  The last one only required councils to “enable and support healthy lifestyles.” but now they must ‘prioritise preventing ill-health’. There is also specific instruction for when applications for hot food takeaways should be refused (near schools and where there is evidence that they are having an adverse impact on local health). Thanks to colleagues at the Obesity Health Alliance for leading our inputs into this consultation. 2)     The CMO Christopher Whitty published a report on Health in Cities. He makes four specific recommendations. This is one of them: “The food environment in parts of cities entrenches inequalities in health and promotes obesity. Healthy food deserts combine with junk food advertising to set children and adults up to live a shorter and unhealthier life through obesity and the diseases it causes, particularly in the more deprived areas of our cities. Changes will need to be tailored to local needs and food choices". Look at the chapt written by the brilliant people in Birmingham City Council (Sarah Pullen) on their work to transform food environments. We’ve been working closely with them over the last few years (esp Leticija Petrovic) and it’s very exciting to witness the real-time delivery of a system-wide approach.  The other chapt which is really worth a read is the one authored by the fabulous team Impact on Urban Health - a great explainer and a vg summary of the priority policy asks. Each of these are milestones in their own right. Together they show that the need for food system change is reaching fever pitch; but that the appetite from policy makers to take action is also growing.  

🎟️ If you're going to Sustainable Foods 2025 we may see you there! Our Executive Director Anna Taylor is speaking in a panel discussion entitled Planting the Future: Strategies for Implementing Plant-Based Food Systems on January 28. She'll be joined by Rodrigo Ledesma-Amaro, PhD of the Bezos Centre for Sustainable Protein - Imperial, and David Moore PIEMA of The Compleat Food Group. The session will be moderated by Claire Ogley of The Vegan Society. If you'd like to see it register below and benefit from a 10% discount using code SFTFF2025: https://lnkd.in/eVuSVG6V

🙌 Good to hear Liberal Democrats MP Caroline Voaden raising the issue of extending Free School Meals and the importance of auto-enrolment during Education Questions in House of Commons. The latest data actually shows 900,000 children in poverty in England are missing out and more than 200,000 eligible children are not even registered for this vital nutritional safety net! The consequences are clear: https://lnkd.in/e32Q-uiD #FreeSchoolMeals #schoolfood #autoenrolment #childwellbeingbill Joss MacDonald

🙌 Great to hear the government announcing plans for a new food strategy this week! But does it go far enough? Our latest podcast featuring our Head of Policy and Advocacy Hannah Brinsden has everything you need to know. 🎧 Listen in full: https://bit.ly/41sVall #foodstrategy #foodsystems #costofliving #farming #environment #health

🚜🌾 For too long, successive governments have failed to see food as a distinct political subject. Following the announcement of the Labour Party (UK)'s new food strategy this week, our Public Affairs Lead Joss MacDonald analyses whether it can deliver the change urgently needed for the health of the nation and the planet. Read it here: https://lnkd.in/df9__VWV #foodstrategy #food #farming #climate #nature #foodysystems

Exciting developments yesterday! Rt Hon Steve Reed OBE MP announced the process which he will be leading to deliver a new national food strategy. The strategy aims to deliver outcomes in 4 major areas: food security, health, environment and economy. It was very reassuring to hear his emphasis on securing access to nutritious food for everyone, particularly children, as well as the other important elements like building resilience of our food system to climate shocks and providing much needed support to farmers. And he is using systems language - looking at the whole system from production to consumption - again this is new and helpful language from DEFRA which is focusing minds on the outcomes of the system, and how the existing incentives and guardrails can be better aligned with the outcomes which we all want the food system to be delivering. I'm really encouraged by this. All the work that Henry Dimbleby and many others (including me!) put into the National Food Strategy (Independent Review), provides a fantastic foundation and should allow DEFRA to jump straight into which policies should be prioritised. They will use co-development, and the establishment of a delivery board (involving businesses, academics and charities) - a process which will kick off in the new year. It will be a cross-government process linking into the Health Mission Board and work closely with devolved nations - which are already ahead of England in some of their policy development. We at The Food Foundation , along side many of our partners, will be doing all we can to support and enable a strong set of actions. While actually delivering on this ambition demands serious leadership and political bravery and won't be easy, there are quick wins which will deliver tangible results and in the long term the legacy would be nothing short of transformative, reshaping society for the better. Toby Nation Tessa Jones Sue Pritchard James Toop Harriet Lamb Kath Dalmeny