The Sustain alliance advocates for climate and nature-friendly farming and better routes to market in the UK. Food producers should receive a fair price, workers the real living wage, and all citizens access to affordable healthy food. We call on all political parties to put good food at the heart of their policy making.
One in seven workers in the UK is employed in the food system which contributes over £120 billion to the UK economy. Food and farming are critical for our national security. However, the way our food is produced currently creates multiple problems, when it could be driving solutions.
Rather than start from scratch, we recommend that any new government administration revisit the independent National Food Strategy. It is comprehensive and has actionable policies that have the widespread support of our sector.
Our priorities are set out in this Manifesto and include:
- A Land Use Framework, funding for agroecological farming, a Local Food Enterprise Fund, a strengthened Grocery Code Adjudicator, a horticulture strategy, core animal welfare and environmental standards in trade deals
- A moratorium on new damaging industrial livestock units and a requirement existing units have environmental permits, proper funding for the Environment Agency
- Legally binding, monitored standards for public sector food
- An uplift to the current threshold for Free School Meal qualification and a commitment to end means testing for school meals, and an expansion to the School Fruit and Veg scheme
- A fresh commitment to halve childhood obesity by 2030, urgently put stalled measures into place like limits on ‘buy one get one free’ marketing and introduce the watershed for TV and online unhealthy food adverts.
- Drive food reformulation with a new levy to help make our food healthier, while raising revenue that can be invested back into child health, an increase in the Healthy Start allowance and expand it to five year olds
- Reverse real term cuts to the public health grant to local authorities, increase the powers of local authorities to tackle unhealthy food and drink advertising and update planning rules to enable local authorities to reduce the prevalence of unhealthy food outlets
- A food partnership and plan in every local area
Published Wednesday 31 January 2024
Sustain: Sustain The alliance for better food and farming advocates food and agriculture policies and practices that enhance the health and welfare of people and animals, improve the working and living environment, enrich society and culture and promote equity.
