Our food is cheap, we are spoiled for choice, we often eat too much and we definitely waste a lot. The environment is suffering and so is our health. Food plays an essential part in our lives, culture and  this is the current state of our UK Food system.

"I think we have to accept that food as a percentage of our daily income has probably never been cheaper so there are many challenges."

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering, Member, EU Energy and Environment Sub-Committee 

In the past, governments and officials would never have thought that the food system and the choices of its citizens could bring about the challenges we are currently facing. But alas in the UK our food system challenges include obesity and malnutrition; global warming and damaged environments/ecosystems, over consumption and waste; and of course the social and economic uncertainties of Brexit and a pandemic. So it is very timely that the review of the current national food system is taking place along with a review of the Agriculture bill in the House of Lords. 

Headed up by Henry Dimbleby, The National Food Strategy is the first independent review of England's entire food system for 75 years, which by all accounts will need to be well thought out and executed to combat the current challenges we are facing.

On Tuesday 7 July 2020, I attended the Westminster Food and Nutrition Forum's keynote seminar addressing the topic of Developing a new National Food Strategy for England. Keynote speakers from areas of academia, big and small business, government departments and industry associations gathered, online, to discuss issues, ideas, evidence, priorities and recommendations on the development of an overarching food strategy, Food we can trust and providing a sustainable and healthy National Food Strategy. 
 

From the outset Professor Tim Lang, Professor of Food Policy, City, University of London explained what makes a good food system highlighting how combining a multi criteria approach can achieve sustainable diets from sustainable food systems. 

In 2019, the UK food system ranked 17th out of 113 for food affordability, availability, quality and security (EIU Global Food Security Index, GFSI) and when including sustainability, the UK ranked 24th of 67 countries (EIU Food Sustainability Index 2017). These figures highlight that our food system is not as secure as we think it is and has much more room for improvement. 

"We know what a good food system can look like, but we haven't got the institutions which are delivering it."

Professor Tim Lang, Professor of Food Policy, City, University of London 

The issue of food security was a recurring one across keynotes especially with Brexit and the current pandemic throwing up major challenges around domestic production, international trade and securing enough food to feed the nation.

"Food is a matter of national security, if you can' feed a country, you don't have a country. Government's first duty to its citizens is to feed them and then to protect them."

Ian Wright, Chief Executive, Food and Drink Federation 

Over the past few months all the people in manufacturing, farming, retail, distribution and packaging have played a crucial role in feeding us and their performance has highlighted how important the food industry is to the nation. 

Although there are arguments for the UK to become more self-sufficient there are some foods we just can't grow or manufacture. As we are also a trading nation with importing and exporting commitments we need to make sure that our free trade practices are properly regulated and managed. Standards across UK agriculture, manufacturing and imported produce must be maintained, and raised in some cases, to ensure that the food every citizen has access to is of high quality. These standards along with relevant policies also need to address environmental losses and food waste issues by implementing national dietary guidelines, improving public procurement, promoting a circular economy and ensuring we don't rush into bad trade deals.

With the huge role played by convenience stores in supporting local communities, generally, and in the wake of the pandemic lockdown, Edward Woodall, Director, Government Relations, ACS (The Association of Convenience Stores), made a request for more investment and innovation in this retail sector.  It is believed that convenience stores, if provided with the right support,  can become leaders in pushing the healthy start agenda especially as they have a unique reach into every community.

 As 64% of the adult population being obese, there is a requirement for us to be better educated about our food and how to make better food choices. The challenge of encouraging us to make healthier choices, stems mainly from the tempting marketing campaigns, that we as citizens are constantly bombarded with. These campaigns speak to our emotions, cultures, lifestyles and values and often define the choices we make no matter how detrimental they may be to our health.  Although they have good intentions, the government led approaches used to encourage us to make better choices such as Change 4 Life and Eatwell Guide are not as appealing as what we see through corporate led marketing campaigns. 
 

"...there's an assumption that all you had to do was to give adults the right information about food and they would make good choices..."

Emily Miles Chief Executive Officer, Food Standards Agency

But it is not all doom and gloom as London based initiatives, stemming from the London Food Strategy, such as the TFL Junk food Advertising ban - to help tackle childhood obesity and the healthy catering commitment scheme- to help reduce the levels of saturated fat, salt and sugar in food sold across London, have been seen as successes. Public Health England has also reported improvements in sugar, salt and calorie reduction despite technical manufacturing issues, for example, sugar can be removed easier in drinks than in cakes. 

There was an overall consensus that cheap food is not the answer and there is a need to focus on raising the incomes of low-earning households for everyone to be able to access affordable high quality nutritious food. This was further supported by Claire Pritchard, Chair, London Food Board and Chief Executive Officer, Greenwich Cooperative Development Agency who highlighted how voluntary schemes such as the London Living Wage voluntary scheme has helped to ensure more people are paid enough to live and buy good quality food.    

By the end of the conference it was clear that developing a new National Food Strategy for England is going to be a huge complex task that requires collective effort and collaboration along with innovation, investment and the need to educate and guide citizens on how healthy eating plays such a vital role in our lives.

Key issues identified from the current food strategy include:

• A fragmented approach to how institutions are currently working towards common goals

• Unsustainable farming and manufacturing processes causing damage to the environment

• Serious health issues such as obesity, which could potentially bankrupt the NHS

• A lack of understanding of citizens' behavioural patterns around food consumption and waste 

• Planning, responding and adapting to geopolitical situations such as Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic 

The way we grow, trade, buy, consume and waste food are all areas that need to be addressed especially with Brexit and the unexpected global economic and social crisis brought about by the covid-19 pandemic.

In conclusion the National Food Strategy for England must create a good, secure and sustainable food system, that is environmentally friendly and provides high quality healthy food for every citizen to have access to. 

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Samira Salbi Digital Editor