Mayor of London Sadiq Khan consults on proposal to ban junk food ads on Transport for London network. Sustain responds

The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is consulting on the possibility of a complete ban on advertising of junk food and sugary drinks across the Transport for London network, to help combat child obesity, responding to Sustain's campaigns for this action. Sustain applauds this bold ambition, as part of the launch today of a public consultation on the draft London Food Strategy.

The Mayor of London and London Food Board have today (11 May 2018) published a consultation on the draft London Food Strategy. It includes a proposal to ban the advertising of junk food and sugary drinks across the entire Transport for London network.

Ben Reynolds, Deputy Chief Executive of Sustain: The alliance for food and farming, said: 

“We are pleased that the Mayor has acted on our campaign calls for restricting junk food adverts on the Transport for London network. Junk food contributes to terrible but entirely avoidable conditions like diabetes and obesity that blight our children's lives and limits their future.

"Removing junk food advertising from the Transport for London network would be a bold and visionary step by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, signalling a welcome shift in food culture towards a happier, healthier London, and one we hope national government will match in their forthcoming revisions to their childhood obesity plans.”

The draft London Food Strategy also contains proposals aimed at:

• Helping to tackle rising levels of household food insecurity and ensure all Londoners can eat well at home. 
• Support good food businesses to improve London’s food environment and make healthy, affordable options more widely available to Londoners. 
• Work with public sector partners to improve their food procurement for the communities they serve.
• Using good food to help give young Londoners the best possible start to life.
• Promoting the multiple benefits of food growing for individuals and communities.
• Reducing the environmental impact of our food system by making it more efficient and less wasteful.

The consultation lasts eight weeks until 5 July 2018. The Mayor of London's team would welcome views on the draft strategy, and would also appreciate support in raising awareness among your networks and on social media. To respond, visit www.london.gov.uk/food and follow the links to the draft London Food Strategy and consultation survey.  Alternatively, send an email to londonfood@london.gov.uk or write to: Draft London Food Strategy, GLA Food Team, PP 19A, City Hall, London SE1 2AA.

Sustain is an alliance of food and farming organisations, working together for a healthy and sustainable food system. Sustain:

• sits on the London Food Board that oversees implementation of the Mayor of London’s London Food Strategy (launched for consultation on 10 May 2018);
• runs the Children’s Food Campaign which helped to win a national ban on junk food advertising during children’s television programming, and also the sugary drinks tax introduced in April 2018;
• works with Jamie Oliver to run the SUGAR SMART campaign, helping local authorities, organisations, workplaces and individuals to reduce the amount of sugar we all consume;
• runs London Food Link – the network of people and enterprises improving London’s food;
• coordinates the Capital Growth network, working with over 2,500 community food growing gardens across the capital;
• and at national level works with the Soil Association and Food Matters, helping to run the Sustainable Food Cities network of 50 cities and boroughs working to improve their local food systems (including several in London, and London itself, which won a Sustainable Food Cities Silver Award in 2017).

11/05/2018
London Food Link

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London Food Link: This is the umbrella for all of Sustain's initiatives in London. Our work includes helping to influence local government policy, hands-on food growing training, running sessions for public sector caterers, creating guidance for independent eateries and food producers, public awareness campaigns, and joining the dots between people around specific food issues. The LFL supporter network is open to everyone who grows, produces, teaches, peddles, promotes and simply enjoys good food in the capital.