Eating for Net Zero: transforming UK diets to deliver for climate and nature

We are faced with an urgent challenge: how to ensure food and nutrition security for a growing population while averting dangerous climate change and restoring the natural world on which we all depend. What we buy, cook and eat every day, and how that food is produced, is key to addressing this ‘triple challenge’.

Our food system is global but fixing it will require national leadership and local solutions. It’s hard to disagree with where we need to get to: populations eating more nutritious food, wasting less, and farming in harmony with nature. But what does that look like in practice in the UK, and how will we get there?

In our new report, Eating for Net Zero, we explore the role of diet shift in enabling a nature-positive net zero transition in the UK.

Transitioning to more sustainable diets will deliver a triple win for climate, nature and people. Aligning food production and nutrition to deliver more diverse diets will bring benefits for climate and nature. The provision of healthy, diverse diets will require greater agrobiodiversity, facilitating a shift away from input-intensive monoculture systems and restoring soils and nature. Prioritising the production of nutritious food for direct human consumption will enable us to halt the expansion of new agricultural land and preserve natural habitats.

We show that achieving a healthy, sustainable national diet is possible within current social norms and without costing more. And it doesn’t require everyone to become vegetarian or vegan or give up treats. The ‘Livewell diet’ is a flexible, balanced, plant-rich diet with lots of fruit, vegetables, legumes, pulses and wholegrains, some meat, dairy and lower-footprint seafood, and limited amounts of foods high in fat, salt and sugar.

Diets are not just a question of personal preferences. Our food choices are deeply influenced by what’s available, what we can afford, and how it’s marketed. Polling shows that citizens want to adopt healthier, more sustainable diets. But currently less than 1% of the UK population follow all of the UK government’s healthy diets guidance, and only 31% meet five out of the nine recommendations. Citizens face barriers largely beyond their direct control that make it challenging for them to eat better – including cost, limited choice, convenience, and confusion over what makes up a sustainable diet.

Healthy, sustainable food should be available, accessible and affordable for everyone, both now and in the future. Government and businesses have a vital role to play in enabling and encouraging a shift to healthy, sustainable diets, especially during today’s cost-of-living crisis. 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 plant-rich foods and ensuring they are available, affordable and accessible in schools, supermarkets, restaurants and canteens.

Urgent action is needed to accelerate the shift to healthy, sustainable diets, giving citizens the freedom to make healthier, more sustainable choices. It’s crucial this issue is prioritised so that we can transform the national diet by 2030, enabling us to hit our climate and nature targets and improve population health and equality.

We’ve identified seven key levers for healthy, sustainable diets:

1.??????Dietary guidelines – implementation of the Eatwell guide, for example in public food settings, should be a key policy priority, and the next update should bring guidance in line with the latest science on sustainable diets.

2.??????Public food procurement?– ensure nutritious, sustainable food is served in schools, hospitals, universities, care homes, prisons and government buildings.

3.??????Safety nets and targeted support – introduce measures to help those who need it most to access the nutritious food they need to live healthy lives.

4.??????Food environments –?increase the availability of plant-rich foods and ensure they are the most available, affordable, accessible and desirable options in supermarkets and dining environments (restaurants and canteens).

5.??????Transparency and accountability?– improve transparency and accountability on food system environmental and health impacts, providing a level playing field for food businesses to source and sell healthy, sustainable food.

6.??????Education and information?– embed food education in school curriculums and provide healthy, sustainable diets training for key actors including catering and healthcare practitioners.

7.??????Investment in sustainable production?– provide farmers, fishers and growers with financial support, a fair reward for their produce and the services they deliver, and a level playing field to upscale the sustainable production of a wide variety of nutritious foods.

Find out more and download the full report here.