In 2005, the National Association of Care Catering (NACC) and Sustain, the alliance for better food and farming, embarked on a project to explore the opportunities for healthy and sustainable food procurement in care catering. This briefing paper set out the case and scope for work to improve the healthiness and sustainability of food in care catering, with an initial focus on improving the food standards for meals served to older people in care homes.

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The report 'Short changed on health' (2006) rates the UK's leading supermarkets against each other, showing big differences between the supermarkets in terms of how they promote healthy eating to their customers, and make healthier food affordable. It is one of a series of 7 reports published by the National Consumer Council, working with Sustain and the Food Commission, that also measured and reported on supermarket progress across several years, 2004 to 2009. Links to all 7 reports are provided on the "more information" page.

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The report 'Greening supermarkets' (2009) rates the UK's leading supermarkets against each other, showing big differences between the supermarkets in terms of how they promote sustainable food to their customers, and make more sustainable food choices attractive and affordable. It is one of a series of 7 reports published by the National Consumer Council, working with Sustain and the Food Commission, that also measured and reported on supermarket progress across several years on health and sustainability, 2004 to 2009. Links to all 7 reports are provided on the "more information" page.

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The report pulls together the published evidence linking what we eat to how we feel – from foetal brain development to adolescent behaviour through to Alzheimer’s disease. This evidence suggests that changes to our food system (namely the rise of processed foods, food additives, industrialised farming, pesticides, animal fat, and also declining fish stocks) may be partly responsible for the rise in mental health and behavioural problems. Specific conditions discussed include: ADHD, depression, schizophrenia and dementia (particularly Alzheimer’s disease). The roles of specific nutrients are also examined, including essential fatty acids (omega-3, or fish oils, and omega-6), hydrogenated (or trans) fats and various micronutrients e.g., selenium, magnesium, iron and vitamin C.

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The report 'Healthy Competition' (2005) rates the UK's leading supermarkets against each other, showing big differences between the supermarkets in terms of how they promote healthy eating to their customers, and make healthier food affordable. It is one of a series of 7 reports published by the National Consumer Council, working with Sustain and the Food Commission, that also measured and reported on supermarket progress across several years, 2004 to 2009. Links to all 7 reports are provided on the "more information" page.

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Starting in 2004, Sustain worked with the Soil Association to help hospitals in London use more healthy and sustainable food. The project showed that hospitals can contribute to happier patients and staff, a better environment and more business for local farms and food companies, just by changing the food they buy and serve. By the end of 2005, one of the four London hospitals in the project was buying almost 15% of their food from local and/or organic sources, with the others making progress and more hospitals wanting to join in. However, there were problems too, and the report outlines how they were overcome, and what more government needs to do to make sustainable food in hospitals the norm, rather than the exception.

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The report outlines the health pros and cons of eating fish, summarises the environmental damage caused by both industrial fishing and fish farming, and lays bare the contradictions in government policy at both UK and EU level.

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In 2004, Sustain was commissioned by the London Development Agency food programme (now run by the Greater London Authority) to help one Greater London Authority (GLA) catering team to integrate healthy and sustainable food procurement into their policies and catering operations. This report gives an account of how this work was undertaken, the results and recommendations for sustainable food procurement by London's statutory bodies.

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In-depth research into the policies and practices of UK supermarkets on sustainability. This report was commissioned as a scoping study for the National Consumer Council, to help them develop a series of influential surveys examining how well leading UK supermarkets help their customers to understand and buy sustainable food and other products.

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This report places the crisis in children's diet-related health in the context of the unhealthy food environments which have become part-and-parcel of their every day lives. Using a range of examples from a number of policy areas (for example, control of tobacco advertising, alcohol promotion and marketing of breastmilk substitutes), the report explains how industry is unable, in a competitive market, to exercise the social responsibility required to make voluntary approaches successful. It also demolishes the many arguments used by the food and advertising industries to promote self-regulation rather than effective legislation.

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