Businesses and governments must create 'net zero' food environments

Last month, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak hosted a ‘Farm to Fork’ food summit. The name was promising, implying the recognition of the need for a holistic approach to fixing our food system, but the summit has already been criticised as failing to tackle key issues on food security and inflation. The challenge that UK Governments and businesses face is that delivering food and nutrition security will involve changing systems – it can’t be fixed by solutions that target the outcome but neglect the cause.

We need to transform our food system from farm to fork. We must move to a new food paradigm; away from a focus on producing as much food as possible and towards ensuring everyone can access and afford the nutritious food?they need to live healthy lives. Transitioning to sustainable diets is a key solution that will enable us to improve supply chain resilience, meet net zero and restore nature.

From the perspective of business leaders, it’s also a critical strategy to tackle Scope 3 emissions. The limited data that’s publicly available shows that animal sourced foods (meat, dairy, eggs, and fish) typically represent a significant portion of a food businesses’ Scope 3. Credible sustainability strategies therefore need to encompass transforming product portfolios to focus on healthy, sustainable options. Failing to do so will leave them vulnerable to risks, and increasing scrutiny from investors, NGOs, and consumers.

What does a shift to sustainable diets look like?

In the UK it will involve rebalancing our protein consumption toward plants, eating more vegetables, pulses and wholegrains, and fewer foods high in fat, salt?and sugar. Crucially, this can be achieved without costing more, and without everyone having to go vegetarian or vegan or give up treats, as demonstrated in new research by WWF .

We won’t transform the national diet if we leave it all up to consumers though. People want to eat more healthily and sustainably, and yet less than 1% of us eat in line with UK Government guidance. This is because we face barriers to better choices that are largely beyond our control, like cost, limited choice, and convenience. Diets are not just a question of personal preference. Food choices are deeply influenced by food environments – what’s available, affordable, and accessible, and how it’s marketed.

Delivering change is therefore not just a question of winning hearts and minds and reacting to consumer trends, but of changing food environments. UK Governments and businesses have a key role to play in ensuring the healthy, sustainable choice is the easy and desirable choice for consumers. And they have a clear mandate to act. Citizens want and expect them to encourage healthier, more sustainable diets, including by increasing the availability of desirable plant-rich foods and ensuring they are affordable and accessible in schools, supermarkets, restaurants, and canteens. This should be an urgent priority between now and 2030.

Levers for change

Successfully transforming the national diet will require a combination of policy measures that together create a level playing field for businesses to source and sell healthy, sustainable food and enable consumers to make choices that are more in line with their aspirations. So, what are some of the key levers policy and business leaders can use to drive sustainable diets uptake at scale?

1.????National Dietary Guidelines

Dietary guidelines set out government recommendations on what a healthy, balanced diet looks like, and are a key policy tool used by the NHS and healthcare professionals as well as food businesses, local authorities, charities, and schools. UK Government should ensure guidelines are in line with the latest science on sustainable diets, and support food companies and providers to develop and provide products and meals in line with these recommendations.

2.????Public Food Procurement

Everyone should be able to eat good food. Public procurement presents an opportunity for government to support those who need it most, and improve the quality of food served in schools, hospitals, care homes, government buildings and other public institutions. This is particularly important during the cost-of-living crisis when many are struggling to access and afford food. Foodservice companies and public sector clients should collaborate on shared sustainability goals to increase the provision of nutritious, sustainable food.

3.????Food Offer and Marketing

UK retailers, catering companies, restaurants and public canteen operators can accelerate adoption of healthy, sustainable diets through their food offer and marketing. Food offers should be rebalanced towards plants, through focusing product and meal development on plant-based wholefoods such as beans and lentils, and including a greater proportion of plant-rich options than meat and dairy heavy options in supermarkets and on menus.

To enable consumer uptake, plant-rich options need to be cheaper or no more expensive than meat and dairy options, should be at the centre of advertising and promotions, and located in prominent positions in supermarkets, on menus and in canteens. They should be the default option where appropriate.

4.????Transparency

Greater transparency enables improved monitoring of health and sustainability impacts and can provide a level playing field for businesses to source and sell healthy, sustainable food. Food businesses can demonstrate commitment to this agenda and get ahead of incoming regulation by disclosing their protein sales , healthy food sales, and climate and nature impacts. This will involve significant investment in data, so it’s something businesses should start working on now.

Through the Food Data Transparency Partnership (FDTP), policymakers are seeking to develop a standardised methodology for assessing environmental impact. Existing voluntary initiatives such as the WWF Basket, WRAP & WWF’s Scope 3 climate reporting and the Food Foundation’s Plating Up Progress can support the development of a standardised framework for measuring environmental impact by demonstrating what businesses can report on.

5.????Investment in sustainable production

What we eat and the way it’s produced are inextricably linked. A shift to sustainable diets will require the scaling of sustainable agriculture. Food businesses and UK Governments should invest in the sustainable production of nutritious foods so we can deliver food and nutrition security within planetary boundaries.

The perception of diet change as something that’s ‘too difficult’ has prevented progress on this vital agenda. But our diets are changing all the time in response to our food environments. Every day, each one of us makes an estimated 200 food decisions – that’s 200 occasions where food companies and policymakers can support, enable, and empower people to make choices that are better for them and the planet.

Read more in WWF’s latest report here .

This article was originally published on Business Green: https://www.businessgreen.com/opinion/4116297/businesses-governments-create-net-zero-food-environments