Sustain’s progress on diversity and anti-racism: March 2026

This Diversity Progress Report reports on the past 18 months of work (mid 2024 to end of 2025) to improve equity, diversity, inclusion (EDI) and racial justice in food and farming. Sustain is committed to become an equitable, diverse, inclusive and anti-racist organisation, and to use the privilege of our leadership role to build the momentum for wider change. Previous progress reports can be read here.

Much of our work is built on principles supporting a structural approach to EDI and racial justice, including:

• Championing – for example, our work to platform Black people and people of colour (BPOC) on speaker panels, as trainers, and in informing and influencing policy and practice.
• Universalism – for example, our campaign for universal free school meals, and policies to improve nutritional quality of food, and to reduce the flood of unhealthy food, for the benefit of everybody.
• Rights-based – for example, our support for the Right to Grow campaign; and our work to influence the £3bn Crisis and Resilience Fund from the Department of Work and Pensions.
• Structural – for example, our Diversity Outreach programme; our work to create and support critical infrastructure for food system change, such as the Sustainable Food Places network and Good Food Local benchmarking of local authorities and their food equity policies and practices.

This year, we are pleased to highlight positive actions, developments and emerging opportunities in the areas of: movement building and solidarity; diversity outreach; inclusive recruitment and employment, children’s food; community food growing; dignified access to food for everybody; and local action.

However, we also acknowledge that we are making less progress on EDI and racial justice in the areas of public policy, food system governance and legislation, sustainable farming, fair and sustainable supply chains and food system resilience. As we enter into the period of our new Sustain Strategy, 2026 to 2030, we will renew our commitment to influencing decision-makers and food system actors to adopt equitable, diverse and inclusive policies and practices that support a better food future for everyone.