The strategy, seen by the Guardian and due to be released on Monday, was supposed to be a groundbreaking response to the recommendations of restaurateur Henry Dimbleby, who wrote two reports on obesity and the environment commissioned by the government. Dimbleby made a number of high-profile proposals, such as expanding free school meals, raising environmental standards and prosperity in agriculture, and reducing meat and dairy consumption by 30%. However, the thin 27-page document makes few recommendations and refuses to address the contribution of food prices to the cost-of-living crisis or to address calls for less meat and dairy consumption. Among its few policy proposals is the suggestion that there could be more fish farming, which is controversially environmentally friendly, and an increase in the use of “wild deer of responsible origin”. The strategy was described as “borderline with irrationality” by the Labor Party due to the lack of specific proposals for food prices and “worse than half-baked” by the Greenpeace environmental campaign. Johnson recently delayed measures to address obesity and has been criticized for failing to help enough families with the cost of living with inflation hovering around 10%. Although the White Paper acknowledges that food prices are a significant part of the pressure on many families and that many low-income people find it difficult to afford to eat, it suggests that this is not a matter of government food strategy. Instead, the White Paper focuses on “long-term measures” to support the food system instead of “overlapping work on the cost of living” – citing the 15 15 billion Treasury support package that focuses on reducing energy bills. It bypasses growing calls from teachers and others to extend eligibility for free school meals to an additional 1 million children in poverty, although it says the idea will be “kept under scrutiny”. It boasts that it has made it “easier” for young low-income families to apply for and use the Healthy Start fruit and vegetable coupon program – although it ignores Dimbleby’s criticism of the system’s shortcomings, its call for expansion, and ignoring recent problems. with the digital part of the system. “The government is committed to a sustainable, long-term approach to tackling poverty and supporting people with lower incomes, helping them get in and out of work and live contented lives,” he said. The White Paper also ignores Dimbleby’s proposals for a tax on sugar and salt used in processed foods as a way to escape what he called the “snack cycle”. Dimbleby insisted that bold regulatory action was needed, rather than relying on consumer education and voluntary agreements with the food industry, to tackle the huge and growing unhealthy food market. But while the White Paper acknowledges that obesity is prevalent, with 64% of adults and 40% of children overweight, it makes clear that there is little desire for government intervention and insists on the importance of individual responsibility and choice in influencing demand. for healthy food. Experts had also urged the government to reduce meat and dairy consumption in order to improve land use and address the climate emergency. Dibleby demanded a 30% reduction and Greenpeace a more ambitious 70%. In his executive summary, Dimbleby said: “Careful animal husbandry may be beneficial to the environment, but our current appetite for meat is unsustainable: 85% of farmland is used for animal feed. We need some of this land back. “ However, the government is not making any such commitment, but is opening a consultation on new technologies that will help cattle produce less methane. Emphasis is also placed on regenerative livestock, which uses more land than intensive farming to produce less protein. “Sustainable protein sources do not have to be new or replace traditional sectors,” he says. Regenerative agriculture will also offer a more sustainable production of traditional protein sources. “The use of livestock for the benefit of the environment in balance with food production is already supported by many small-scale farmers.” A new announcement made in the White Paper on animal welfare. Ministers plan to facilitate countries’ trade with the United Kingdom if they have strong animal welfare legislation. The report also mentions an extension of aquaculture – fish farming – to potentially replace some meat in the diet. This is despite the fact that fish farming is often very harmful to the environment. Deer hunters will also benefit from the report, as one of the few new announcements it makes is that the government “will try to increase the use of wild deer of responsible origin, which would otherwise have been rejected, in the food chain.” . Environmental experts involved in the strategy said it was “worse than expected” – and did not have high expectations. There are also fears that the report signals a reduction in the Environmental Management System (ELMS), as no land use change targets are mentioned. Jim McMahon, the secretary of the shadow environment, strongly criticized the leaked strategy. “The UK is in a cost of living crisis with food prices rising, real wages falling, growth falling sharply and taxes rising. “It is clear now that the government has absolutely no ambition to rectify the chaos it has created.” “A food strategy is vital, but the government has prevented it, delayed it and now it has failed to deliver. This is just a statement of vague intentions, not the specific proposals to address the big issues facing our country. “Calling it a diet strategy borders on the absurd.” Liberal Democrat Tim Faron, spokesman for the environment, food and agriculture, added: “Conservative food strategy has no solution to the cost of living crisis and nothing for the millions of people struggling to put food on the table. . “By failing to do anything to help farmers across the country, the government is only guaranteeing a generation of higher food prices.” Louisa Casson, head of food and forestry at Greenpeace UK, said: our security. . “Instead of hearing warnings from climate scientists about the urgent need to reduce meat production, ministers seem to be pushing UK farmers to produce even more.” Ben Reynolds, deputy managing director of the food and agriculture charity Sustain, added: the legislation required to make a wholesale change. “Dimbleby’s critique has created a great deal of understanding and an appetite for change. Health activists, businesses, food businesses and investors have all called for government intervention to prevent health, climate and nature crises caused by our food system. We would welcome any mandatory industry and public sector responsibilities that contribute to making healthy and sustainable diets the norm, but if the government publishes a white paper with more than repeated commitments, consultations and evaluations, it will only go down further. . road.”
