A good food strategy for the UK (Green Alliance)

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Summary

An effective food strategy is a major opportunity for the government to grow the economy, deliver a secure supply of affordable, nutritious food and create an NHS fit for the future. It can create a food system adapted to climate change that restores, rather than harms, nature and supports thriving, healthy communities.

This has been reflected in the goals that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has set for the strategy: improving public health, fostering economic growth, reducing the sector's environmental impacts and bolstering food security.¹ Defra's 2025 publication Towards a Good Food Cycle built these goals into outcomes but stopped short of setting out policies to deliver them.²

Achieving this is going to require systemic change, rather than the previous approach which has put the burden of action on individuals. Much policy thinking was done in Henry Dimbleby's 2021 National food strategy, an independent report commissioned by the Conservative government. Defra rightly sees Dimbleby's report conclusions as central to its food strategy, though it is to be a more iterative process, focused on delivery, rather than a single plan.³

In this policy insight, we describe a package of nine policies which we believe should form the core of the food strategy, and deliver the goals set out in a government Good Food Cycle. We update Henry Dimbleby's original proposals to reflect progress since his report was published, while acknowledging that the 2025 spending review did not explicitly allocate any funding to the food strategy.

Our recommendations:

Transform the food system

• Introduce a Good Food Bill to ensure that affordable, sustainable, nutritious food is a mainstay of the UK food system, strengthen resilience and provide a clear regulatory framework to enable long term investment.
• Implement mandatory reporting for large food companies on a range of health and environmental metrics to drive them to increase sales of healthy, sustainable food and allow the government to track progress against targets stipulated in a Good Food Bill.

Invest in high value food industries

• Publish a horticulture strategy to increase both supply and demand for UK grown fruit and vegetables, supporting British producers, stimulating growth and increasing food security.
• Expand the alternative proteins industry, including through the Industrial Strategy, to boost growth and jobs particularly in regions that need both.

Support farmers and long term food security

• Create an ambitious Land Use Framework to increase nature restoration and climate mitigation while ensuring a secure supply of affordable, sustainable, nutritious food. It should also identify where high value sectors could expand, to enhance growth and food security.
• Provide a roadmap for the evolution of Environment Land Management (ELM) schemes. This should maximise value for money in spending decisions and explore opportunities to increase the flow of private finance into nature restoration.
• Improve fairness in the supply chain, by reforming the Groceries Supply Code of Practice and extending Fair Dealing Obligations to all farming sectors to ensure producers can make a fair profit, without unnecessary risk.

Support the shift to sustainable, nutritious diets

• Reform government food buying standards and make them mandatory across all public institutions to ensure that publicly funded food provision is both healthy and sustainable.
• Consider a high fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) tax, based on nutrient profiles, with ringfenced revenue, to drive reformulation that accelerates change towards a healthier, more sustainable food system.