FTI Consulting Public Affairs Snapshot – Government Food Strategy: can it deliver where others have failed?

How did we get here?

When Henry Dimbleby published Part Two of his National Food Strategy in July 2021, completing an independent review for the Government into the state of the UK’s food system, he called for urgent action for “our own health, and that of our planet.” This conclusion, he hoped, would kick-start policy development that would facilitate better diets, more sustainable farming, and improved health outcomes.

He gave 16 recommendations for how this could be achieved including the introduction of a Sugar and Salt Reformulation Tax, the extension of eligibility for free school meals, and the creation of a Rural Land Use Framework. Collectively, they were designed to intervene in the food system at multiple levels and provide the first steps in a longer-term transition towards a more sustainable food model for the country.

Publication and reaction

The Strategy has now arrived in the public domain at a time of competing political and policy challenges for the Government. Just a week after the Prime Minister survived a vote-of-no-confidence, and with growing resistance to policy moves including the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill and the deportation of migrants to Rwanda, the Strategy will do well to achieve the cut through needed to deliver the outcomes that many are hoping for.

The initial reaction to the publication has been less than complimentary, with critics pointing to the speed at which the document has been put together along with a lack of tangible measures to tackle issues such as the rising cost of food, childhood hunger, obesity or climate change.

Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Jim McMahon MP, has called the Strategy a “statement of vague intentions”, pointing to the lack of a Food Bill that could have provided statutory footing for some of measures that are outlined. The ConservativeHome website described it as a ‘buying off rural MPs strategy’, referring to its emphasis on support for the farming community.

Key Policy Areas

The Strategy is undoubtedly farming-focused, as the Government suggests that future policy will support ‘innovative solutions to the environmental challenges’ being faced by the UK as well as promoting actions that will reward sustainable farming practices and make space for nature within the farmed landscape. To increase the country’s vegetable production capacity, certain planning laws will also be relaxed to allow for the building of large greenhouses that are aimed at addressing the supply-to-demand ratios for certain items.

As food security is set to remain a key domestic and geopolitical issue, a strong agricultural sector will doubtless be important. Seeking total reliance on domestic production would be a risk in itself, but whether a balance between homegrown and imported food can be realistically achieved, in line with climate targets, is still unclear at this point.

Promoting alternative protein sources has been suggested as one of the best ways to reduce intensive farming practices, and a £120 million investment, in partnership with UK Research and Innovation is aimed to develop the ‘opportunity for growth’ in this area. This is one of the few tangible commitments to come from the Strategy, as while the funding will only go so far it does offer an opportunity for British business to grow their product lines, and revenues, in this ever-expanding market.

On obesity and health, the Strategy points to the potential for collaboration between Government and industry on a ‘shared endeavour to promote healthier diets’, and notes work that has already taken place on reformulation in certain product lines. However, it gives no clear, practical guidance as to how this will be achieved.

Reducing childhood obesity has been a priority of the Johnson Government, and the ambition to deliver a ‘school cooking revolution’, that would see every child leaving secondary schools know at least 6 healthy recipes, is designed to further that agenda. Whether this position will be accepted, though, is another question; as part of measures relating to HFSS foods, also supposed to help curb childhood obesity, the Government’s own impact assessment admitted that there had been no research as to whether the proposed plans would be effective for children.

The fact that a new tax of £3/kg on sugar and £6/kg on salt sold for use in processed foods, restaurants and catering, as suggested by Dimbleby, has not been included, will be met with disappointment by those arguing for further measures to tackle obesity. So will the suggestions made by officials, and the Prime Minister himself, that it would be politically foolish to introduce the new tax as households struggled with the wider cost-of-living crisis.

Opportunities for business

While the Strategy could do more in addressing and aiding the commercial challenges that exist across the UK’s food system, there are opportunities for businesses to use the gaps in the document to set the agenda themselves. For example, those who deliver food services in schools could take leadership positions on the quality of food they are supplying to children and promote areas where they have taken unilateral action to improve the diets of the UK’s younger generations. On workforce management, too, there is space for industry players to talk about how they are looking to improve the conditions and career trajectories for those working in the sector, and what they are doing to ensure that the UK is actively moving towards a sustainable workforce, that includes a growing proportion of homegrown talent.

Conclusion

Whether the Government Food Strategy proves to be a spark for fundamental change within the UK’s food system is, at this point, unclear. While meaningful action taken by the current Government can serve to reduce the challenges faced by future administrations, lasting success will rely on the political will of those in charge. With the range of competing interests that are currently at play, how forthcoming this will be remains to be seen. Alongside this, though, there are opportunities for business to drive change, which could affect retrospective support from policymakers in certain areas.

Although the Strategy does not go as far as to deliver a fully formed plan for the sort of regulatory environment that some in the industry had hoped for, those that choose to take the initiative could reap the rewards of being ‘first movers’ and inspire movement from the wider market.