12 May 2025

🗳️✅ No more ‘nanny state’ as the FFCC reveals true public views on food system change

The Food, Farming and Countryside Commission’s (FFCC) key finding that food is connecting, rather than polarising citizens, is as refreshing as it is radical. The organisation’s two-year series of conversations with people from across the UK has culminated in a Citizen Manifesto to Fix Food, and a powerful mandate to change the food system for any policy maker or minister looking to make their mark. Read the latest report and download the manifesto.

🌱🍓 An industrial horticulture strategy and £30m for plant-based research, among key recommendations for National Food Strategy 

A new joint report by a powerhouse trio of Green Alliance, the Food Foundation and Good Food Institute, has outlined how the government could achieve its four National Food Strategy goals. Along with a focus on eating more veg, the recommendations include a land use framework, better regulation of supply chains by expanding the remit of the Groceries Code Adjudicator, strengthening public procurement rules and restricting advertising for HFSS foods. Find our Digest, the full report and related blog posts.

🚜👩‍⚖️ A farmer ‘jury’ has ruled unanimously that UK farming should help meet government targets on climate and nature

A group of 16 farmers and land managers travelled to London to hear views from Defra, industry officials, NGOs and scientists, before voting that the farmers should contribute to the government’s net zero by 2050 goal. However, as noted in a report on the event by AFN’s behaviour change champion, Amy Jackson, farmers found the tunnel vision of ‘net zero’ to be disengaging, and called on government to take a more holistic approach in acting on climate change within the food system, and more actively engage farmers in climate change policy formulation. Read Amy’s LinkedIn post on or digest the full write up.

🐄​​​​​​​🥩 Consumption of less but better meat and dairy, and recognition of grazing livestock benefits, set out in beefy Sustainable Food Trust report

A new report, Grazing Livestock: It’s not the cow but the how, has analysed the multiple benefits of grazing animals as part of a sustainable food system, including their ability to help replace artificial chemicals and fertilisers. It calls for a move away from intensive livestock production and its products, towards lower-input, pasture-based farming and the consumption of smaller amounts of high-quality meat and dairy. In addition to recognising benefits to biodiversity and food security, the report calls for greater recognition of the impact of the whole food system rather than just livestock, including introducing a harmonised approach to measuring action from food companies. Find the full study.

🌞​​​​​​​⚡ UK preparation for climate change is inadequate, according to CCC progress report

The government’s independent Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has released a damning report on the progress towards climate goals and found the government has ‘yet to change the UK’s inadequate response to climate change’. Commenting on the report, Tom Lancaster, head of land, food and farming at the Environment & Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), said the “response to this scale of risk is clearly not aligned to the jeopardy it poses”. The ECIU said it’s looking to the Spending Review in June to rectify the short-notice closure of green farming schemes as a key climate mitigator for land use. Read the full comment here and the CCC report here. 

🌳​​​​​​​🥗 Wales focuses on future with climate change adaption and resilience fund

On the 10th anniversary of the Welsh Well-being of Future Generations Act (WFG Act), a new report outlines the achievements and future ambitions around this radical legislative structure, which influences anything from community wellbeing to nature restoration. It also criticises the UK Government economic strategy for its focus solely on growth, saying that this puts well-being at risk. The report is inspiring and forward-thinking – read it here.

​​​​​​​🍼​​​​​​​👶🏾 Baby food on BBC Panorama, thanks to new research from University of Leeds

Not only do many baby food products fail to meet essential nutritional recommendations, but the study, which analysed 632 commercially available baby foods, uncovered widespread excess sugar levels and misleading marketing claims. The findings also highlight how parents struggle to navigate the baby food aisle, as misleading marketing obscures poor nutrition. AFN Network policy champion Ali Morpeth was a co-researcher – congrats Ali on getting such hefty coverage. Read the full report.

NEWS IN BRIEF

💦 The South East is among five areas in the UK that could run out of water by 2050, according to Environment Agency calculations. Read in the i Paper or without a paywall at msn.com.

🍋 The first outdoor citrus has been grown on the Isle of Wight, as fruit growers respond to a warming climate. First reported in The Times, you can read the report on trade magazine website Fresh Produce Journal.

👥 Food Foundation exec director Anna Taylor has explained why she accepted a place on the National Food Strategy advisory board, after criticism around too much industry representation. Read her piece here, plus AFN knowledge exchange fellow Jez Fredenburgh’s helpful rundown of who’s who on the board.

💣 Former PM Tony Blair’s bombshell criticism of Labour’s net zero plans has led to jubilation among Conservatives and the Reform party, landing just ahead of the local elections that ended up as devastating for the incumbent government. Get up to speed with this analysis by Guardian environment editor, Fiona Harvey.

This Digest was written by freelance writer, Nina Pullman, and collated and edited by AFN Knowledge Exchange Fellow, Jez Fredenburgh.