Serving Up (Feedback et al.)

This report does not contain an executive summary. The following is a summary of the report's key points.

This policy briefing, titled "Serving Up," outlines recommendations for the UK government to align public food procurement with healthy and sustainable diets, particularly focusing on reducing meat consumption and increasing plant-based options. It is endorsed by numerous organisations including Feedback Global, Sustain, The Food Foundation, and Compassion in World Farming.

Headline Policy Recommendations for UK Government:

• 1) Reform the Eatwell Guide: Update dietary guidelines to include sustainability, informed by models like the EAT-Lancet diet.
• 2) Mandate food buying standards, including:
  • Set an emissions limit per meal, targeting 0.64 kgCO2equivalent per 750kcal meal.
  • Always provide a healthy, low-emission meal option, prioritising plant-based whole foods.
  • Remove requirements for high-emission foods, such as the mandate for meat to be served 3 days a week in schools.
  • Set limits on harmful foods like red and processed meat.
  • Set a target for 50% of food to be locally produced or certified to higher environmental standards (e.g., Organic, FairTrade).
  • Require caterers to report on food waste and create plans to halve its emissions by 2030.
  • Introduce better meat and fish standards (e.g., RSPCA Assured, MSC certified).
  • Reduce transport emissions by banning air-freighted foods.
  • Phase in targets to source at least 50% of food from UK producers.
  • Mandate Fairtrade sourcing for tea, coffee, bananas, cocoa, chocolate, and sugar.
  • Require large businesses with contracts to have a net-zero strategy that includes Scope 3 emissions.
• 3) Provide adequate funding for a "right to food" approach:
  • Extend free school meals to all school children.
  • Increase funding for local authorities and the NHS to procure healthy, sustainable food.

Headline Policy Recommendations for Local Authorities and Mayors:

• Align meals with the EAT-Lancet Planetary Health Diet.
• Co-design menus with communities.
• Incentivise sustainable diets through methods like plant-based defaults.
• Provide funding to expand services like free school meals.
• Source from Real Living Wage employers and ensure imported food is fairly traded.
• Open procurement to small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Key Arguments & Statistics:

• Cost Savings: Shifting to plant-based meals can save public money. A case study of 11 New York hospitals found average savings of 59 cents (46 pence) per plant-based meal. Extrapolating this to the NHS could result in potential savings of £54.9 million per year.
• Health Benefits: Reducing UK meat consumption to 2-3 servings per week could prevent 45,000 premature deaths and reduce NHS costs by £1.2 billion annually.
• Environmental Benefits: If high-income nations adopted the EAT-Lancet diet, it would reduce their annual agricultural production emissions by 61%. Vegan diets in the UK have around a quarter of the emissions and land use of high-meat diets.
• Public Support: 2021 polling found that 68% of the public agreed public sector food should be healthy and sustainable, and 80% said public canteens should help people minimise their environmental impact.