4 September 2025

Reports and Research

🌩️💷 Food sector organisations do more work on climate, but are cash-strapped 

The third Food Issues Census, put together by the Food Ethics Council, surveyed around 130 organisations working in the food sector, including charities, social enterprises, networks, and co-operatives. It found that, since the last Census in 2017, there has been a clear rise in  climate-focused work, alongside a continued emphasis on household food insecurity. Funding is the biggest constraint affecting the sector, with limited and unpredictable resources undermining long-term planning. The census acts as a reference point for potential funders to identify gaps in capacity or knowledge, as well as helping organisations to understand their roles within the wider ecosystem. Read the full census or a handy two-page summary.

🏭🐂 Livestock have a place in farming, but only if rooted in sustainable systems 

Eating Better, an alliance of 70 organisations working towards a fairer, healthier and more sustainable food system, published a report back in Spring, We need to talk about industrial livestock production (ILP). It sets out a new definition of ILP and presents a case for change. The report has three key messages:

• There is a positive future for animal agriculture in the UK, but only if it is rooted in sustainable systems, not in industrial models
• Industrial livestock production is an unjust system for people, animals and the planet
• In order to rebuild a fair and equitable livestock system, we must dismantle the scaffolding on which industrial production relies

Read the report along with other resources built from it (Q&As, slide-decks, etc).

💪🏼🥅 Fairer contracts key ingredient to making UK food system more secure

In an article in The Conversation, Manoj Dora, Professor in Sustainable Production and Consumption at Anglia Ruskin University, reflects on the implications of this year’s drought for the UK food system. He concludes that a more secure food system would feature:

• Stronger local networks
• Fairer contracts (between farmers, processors and supermarkets) and
• Policy that values resilience

Read the full article

⚠️🌍 UK sources £3bn of food from countries with highest number of displaced people

The Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit has published an analysis looking at how much food the UK imports from countries affected by climate-fuelled disasters. It finds that 15% of the food we import comes from countries which are the most vulnerable and least resilient to climate change. In addition, last year, the UK imported £3 billion worth of food from the 20 countries with the highest numbers of internally displaced people. Read the full analysis.

↪️​​​​​​​↩️ Why national preparedness requires systems thinking

In a post from the National Preparedness Commission, Wolfgang Schuster and Andrew Mylius, members of the Built Environment Connective steering group, draw on recent disruptions and the new Connect to Change initiative to lay out five practical steps for embedding systems thinking into national preparedness—emphasising coordination, feedback loops, and real-world outcomes. Read the post and see also our webinars on systems thinking and using systems thinking to transform our food.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦​​​​​​​🌿 Consumers of plant-based products are not just vegans and vegetarians – marketing should take note of this

Plant Futures Collective, HarrisX and the Good Food Institute Europe have published research into UK consumers’ dietary preferences and ambitions. It finds that 51% of the UK population want to increase their plant-based consumption and/or reduce their meat and dairy consumption. But this includes three strikingly different groups:

• 13% of the UK population do not intend to increase their consumption of plant-based foods but intend to reduce their consumption of animal meat and dairy. Tend to be older with mid-low household income.
• 13% intend to increase their consumption of plant-based foods but not reduce their consumption of animal meat and dairy. Tend to be younger, male, living in London with a high income.
• 20% intend to increase their consumption of plant-based foods and reduce their consumption of animal meat and dairy. Tend to be female with a mid-high income.

Importantly, it also found that many potential consumers of plant-based products also consume animal based foods. Plant-based brands can consider framing plant-based foods as complementary to animal-based foods instead of using narratives about eliminating animal meat and dairy consumption. Read the full report

News

📉​​​​​​​🥗Investors warn of financial risks without healthy sales targets

A group of 23 investors managing $1.33 trillion in assets are calling for rapid and robust implementation of the government’s plan to make disclosures and target setting around healthy food sales mandatory in its 10-Year NHS Health Plan. The group, which includes members of ShareAction’s Long-term Investors in People’s Health coalition and The Food Foundation’s Investor Coalition for Food Policy, are seeking robust metrics for companies’ obligatory reporting and targets based on public health expertise. Investors are also calling for the policy to cover all large food companies including food manufacturers, retailers, and the out-of-home sector, to ensure it meaningfully tackles the wider public health challenges facing the UK and to ensure it is adequately enforced. Read more on the Food Foundation website.

🍒​​​​​​​🙅🏼Food only a footnote in the Resilience Action Plan

The UK’s Resilience Action Plan, published in July, which “brings together policies and programmes, across government, that strengthen our foundations and help us identify, and mitigate the risks the UK faces” only mentions the agri-food system in a footnote. Flooding, defence, coastal regions, mineral supplies, transport, energy, are all discussed. But the only mention of food, agriculture or farming is in a footnote on supply chains, including food, following the war in Ukraine. If you still want to, you can read the plan.

🥜🫘​​​​​​​The struggles of veganism

Two stories in the press have discussed whether veganism is struggling, in the light of newer eating concerns, such as UPFs and protein, or is simply being rebranded as ‘plant-based’. Why the vegans lost? in the FT, cites the decline of Google searches for ‘vegan’ over the last five years, and the struggles of vegan food companies and catering outlets. In the Guardian, The plant-based problem: why vegan restaurants are closing – or adding meat to the menu looks at the difficulties experienced by vegan restaurants around the world.

🍄​​​​​​​📷 Meat-free brands unite in first-of-its-kind campaign 

Quorn, Linda McCartney Foods and Beyond Meat are among 53 meat-free brands and foodservice companies that have united around a new campaign to encourage people to cut meat from their diets. ‘Meat Free Made Easy’ builds on the existing Meat Free Monday campaign, and is due to launch officially this autumn. It will focus on social media with recipes and encouragement to cut meat out of diets, and has been endorsed by Food Strategy co-author Henry Dimbleby, who called it “an example of collaborative leadership that will move consumers forward”. Read more here.

🌎​​​​​​​💰US ambassador to the UK will profit from trade deal

Warren Stephens, the US ambassador to the UK, has around $250 million invested in agriculture and food firms that will benefit from the UK-US trade deal signed on 8 May. According to an investigation by DeSmog and The Lever, Stephens was instrumental in getting the trade deal agreed and was a donor to the Trump presidential campaign. Read the investigation here.

🍽️​​​​​​​🥕Tesco reveals shift to veg-based meals among shoppers

The UK’s largest supermarket chain Tesco has revealed a growing demand for protein diversity, including lentils, chickpeas, beans and tofu, and a veg-led approach to main meals. This has led to a slowdown in sales of meals based on meat alternatives, in favour of meals with veg at the heart. The retailer’s Sustainability Report 2025 also highlights the steps it is taking to encourage healthy diets, including trolley prompts to help people pick up fruit and veg, adding lentils into meals like bolognese, and launching a Gut Sense range. Read the analysis on LinkedIn by Joanna Trewern Jimenez of ProVeg, or read the full report from Tesco.

🚿​​​​​​​🚽Government releases water infrastructure national policy statement

The government has, at long last, published a national policy statement on water infrastructure that clarifies the responsibility of water companies to prepare a water resource management plan and confirms the national requirements for water supply. As part of this, it identifies a stable water supply as a pre-requisite to any new development, including housing and data centres. Read the full policy statement or a summary.