News

The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) is a bicameral body in the UK Parliament. POST has published a note (POSTnote) on measuring sustainable enviroment-food system interactions.

This POSTnote describes environmental impact metrics for food systems, which are complex networks of decision-makers, natural processes and human activities.

Overview

• Food systems are built from the complex activities, interactions and networks of decision-makers, natural processes, human processes and infrastructure. They span all processes and activities involved in food production, processing, packaging, storage, distribution, consumption, and food loss and waste.
• These systems generate economic and nutrition benefits and interact with the environment in multiple ways.
• Achieving international and domestic climate change and environmental targets will require transformative change of global and UK food systems.
• Studies exploring options for reducing environmental impacts suggest that an integrated and coordinated systems approach is needed. This will require sound data, metrics and models to track progress towards transforming food systems. 
• Metrics on environmental impacts of food across the whole supply chain could incentivise producers and retailers to improve product environmental sustainability. However, there are significant data collection challenges, as well as metric, method and modelling limitations. 
• The UK Government’s Food Data Transparency Partnership will develop a mandatory methodology for food labels and sustainability claims. A public consultation is planned.

This POSTnote has also been added to the Policy-Guidance-Law section of this website.

The UK government has today published its food strategy.

This food strategy sets out government ambitions and priorities to deliver the following objectives:

1. a prosperous agri-food and seafood sector that ensures a secure food supply in an unpredictable world and contributes to the levelling up agenda through good quality jobs around the country.
2. a sustainable, nature positive, affordable food system that provides choice and access to high quality products that support healthier and home-grown diets for all.
3. trade that provides export opportunities and consumer choice through imports, without compromising our regulatory standards for food, whether produced domestically or imported.

To achieve these objectives government will seek to:

• broadly maintain the current level of food we produce domestically, including sustainably boosting production in sectors where there are post-Brexit opportunities including horticulture and seafood.
• ensure that by 2030, pay, employment and productivity, as well as completion of high-quality skills training will have risen in the agri-food industry in every area of the UK, to support our production and levelling up objectives.
• halve childhood obesity by 2030, reducing the healthy life expectancy (HLE) gap between local areas where it is highest and lowest by 2030, adding 5 years to HLE by 2035 and reducing the proportion of the population living with diet-related illnesses; and to support this, increasing the proportion of healthier food sold.
• reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the environmental impacts of the food system, in line with our net zero commitments and biodiversity targets and preparing for the risks from a changing climate.
• contribute to our export strategy goal to reach £1 trillion of exports annually by 2030 and supporting more UK food and drink businesses, particularly small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), to take advantage of new market access and free trade agreements (FTAs) post-Brexit
• maintain high standards for food consumed in the UK, wherever it is produced.

The Food Standards Agency launches its new five-year strategy, 2022 - 2027.

The FSA’s job, set out in law, is to safeguard public health and protect the interests of consumers in relation to food. FSA works closely with the UK Government and the governments in Wales and Northern Ireland, but it acts independently and transparently, led by science and evidence.

FSA's fundamental mission is food you can trust. This mission has remained constant since the previous strategy, published in 2015. However, the food system is evolving and the strategy to deliver this mission needs to reflect and anticipate change.

The FSA has greater responsibilities now that the UK is outside of the EU. New technologies and business models and changing consumer behaviours, means the FSA needs to think differently about how it can deliver its mission. FSA also needs to take account of growing public concern about health, sustainability and of affordability.

By food you can trust, FSA means a food system in which:

• Food is safe
• Food is what it says it is
• Food is healthier and more sustainable

Read the full version of FSA's new five year strategy here.