Sustain: The alliance for better food and farming

🙌🏼 SHAPE THE FUTURE OF FUNDING FOR FOOD & FARMING 🙌🏼 The third Food Issues Census has launched 💫 This is an opportunity for organisations working & organising in food & farming to share your priorities & challenges with UK funders. ✏️ Find out more & take part: https://buff.ly/3ZuMfgz

▶️ A growing and serious threat from climate change; over-reliance on imports and an increase in household food poverty are some of the findings from the latest Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) report on food security. 🔽 Our team responds: Ruth Westcott, Climate Change and Nature Campaign Manager at Sustain, says: "This report lays bare the alarming vulnerabilities of our food system, as well as some of the causes of food insecurity that we are simply not tackling. Climate change is the most pressing threat. It is dangerous and shocking that the government has failed to present any credible strategy to reduce emissions from the food system, which is both a major driver of climate change and increasingly at risk because of it. The report makes some pertinent observations about how intensive farming is impacting food security, including that the effects of expanding livestock production are a risk to feeding a growing population and global food security. Food is both at risk from the climate emergency, and a major contributor to it. The new food strategy announced yesterday must set out how these issues will be addressed." Will White, Sustainable Farming Campaign Coordinator at Sustain, says: “This report clearly shows that food security and a healthy natural world are indivisible. With climate change, biodiversity loss, and a deepening public health crisis, it’s imperative to shift our food and farming systems towards a model that is sustainable, equitable, and resilient. Our over-reliance on fruit and vegetable imports, often sourced from incredibly climate-vulnerable countries, is a case in point of our current failure to ensure a resilient supply of key food sources. As Sustain and its partners set out in our food security briefing, the government needs to take a systemic approach by addressing the economic barriers which are currently stifling the transition to agroecology. This means better funding and delivery of the environmental land management schemes, a clear strategy for growth for the horticulture sector.” See full analysis by following link in comments!

UK farming sector at risk due to extreme weather, soaring inflation and chronic supply chains. ▶️ Over 40 leading food, farming and conservation organisations have signed an open letter urging Environment Secretary Steve Reed to address the deep-seated challenges undermining England’s agriculture sector. ▶️ Letter coordinated by Sustain and Wildlife and Countryside Link with 41 leading food, farming and nature groups WWF RSPB Vicki Hird Richard Benwell Will White Greenpeace Feedback ClientEarth Compassion in World Farming ▶️ The signatories call for immediate action to reform unfair supply chains, through strengthening the Groceries Code Adjudicator and ensuring fair pricing, as well as boosting the annual farm budget to £3.1 billion in England to support more sustainable farming methods. 🔽 Link to full letter in comments

Growing health and happiness: how school gardens are transforming young lives New research has highlighted the profound benefits of gardening for children's mental and physical health. Sustain’s Local Action Officer shares how some inspiring gardening projects are creating healthy lives and strengthening communities. Photo: Good to Grow Day 2022 at Cranbrook Community Garden. Credit: Cranbrook Community Garden https://buff.ly/4fWdhnZ

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Having worked on this ever since the 2018 Obesity Strategy, it’s good to see the government move one step closer to the 9pm watershed and online ban of paid-for #advertising for products high in fat, salt & sugar (#HFSS). The advertising industry & lots of big food companies have fought this every step of the way. They’ve used all their usual tactics to get in the way 🙈denial - companies have argued it won’t work, it will only reduce calorie intake by “half a smartie”, yet we all know advertising works cos these same companies invest millions into it 🗓️delay - they won, when primary legislation received Royal Assent, the new rules were meant to be enacted on 1 January 2023, but were then subjected to delays until October 2025, beyond the last government’s term of office. So we’re pleased the new government hasn’t let things slip further. 🥤dilution - there are still plenty of loopholes, it is a limited scope of products, for example sweet spreads like Nutella aren’t hit by this. It doesn’t cover brand only advertising so we will still see Coke on screens, but with either no product shown or a can of Coke zero. It doesn’t include ads on radio, during podcasts, in cinemas or outdoor advertising. We will need to monitor what happens and how to progressively close these. 🚦BUT, it will take the sugariest, saltiest, highest fat products out of the spotlight in the daytime on TV and around the clock online. We’re already seeing further reformulation and new healthier product variants precisely so that companies can continue to advertise. It’s already working in fact. 🙌 For all these reasons, I’m giving this half a cheer! The other half is scheduled for October 2025 😁 Fran Bernhardt Obesity Health Alliance Caroline Cerny Katharine Jenner Malcolm Clark Sustain: The alliance for better food and farming Nika Pajda Alison Corfield Sarah Rappaport Ph.D Dan Parker Amandine Garde Alex Kenney

Fast food chains accused of ‘flooding’ areas near UK schools with unhealthy options, the Guardian reported yesterday, link in comments. Another great report from Bite Back that pulls no punches ⬇️

The UK Government has formally laid the law which restricts unhealthy food advertising before 9pm on TV and at all times online. It will come into force in October 2025. Sustain has fed into the many consultations on the policy since it was first proposed in July 2020. Government will today be publishing guidance intended to provide more detail on which food and drink categories will be covered by the regulations. The policy comes off the back of years of evidence which indicates that the more unhealthy food advertising children are exposed to, the more it plays a starring role in their minds. Subsequently, increasing their risk of food related ill health including type 2 diabetes and tooth decay. For example, Cancer Research UK (CRUK) found that for every unhealthy food advert young people see, they consume an additional 350 calories. The Government states that 7.2 billion calories per year are expected to be removed from the food UK children eat as a result of the new measures, preventing an estimated 20,000 children from living with obesity. ⬇️ Full article link in comments photo credit: Pixabay Obesity Health Alliance Fran Bernhardt Barbara Crowther

Great post and blog here by our lovely campaigner Charlotte Gage, who argues that focusing on addressing supermarket waste does not go far enough to tackle the issue of food waste, and shares what we could learn from local food systems. ⬇️

Love this report which explores access to food for children and young people. It supports the establishment of a local food partnership in every area, directly involving young people. Fab that the Youth Advisory Group Advocacy team took it to Westminster Sustainable Food Places Food Matters Sustain: The alliance for better food and farming Soil Association