18th November 2024

Launch of our new policy report: Plant-powered Planet

Exactly a month back, on World Food Day, a new report by the UK Health Alliance on Climate Change was published. The report says the UK government must transform our food system to one that promotes good human health and does not harm the environment.

The report – Plant-powered Planet: Building a Healthy & Sustainable Food System – was produced in partnership with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, Plant-Based Health Professionals and UK Kidney Association. 

The report outlines that food systems account for about a third of greenhouse gas emissions and much of the loss of nature, yet globally we have a billion people who go to bed hungry and billions who are obese. In the UK, 85% of farmed land is used to raise animals for food, but only about 18% of the calorie supply is provided through meat and dairy. Transforming our food systems to be healthier, sustainable, and efficient is critical. 

It puts forward six recommendations for the governments of the UK to drive a just transition to sustainable and healthy food systems:

1. Drive sustainable agricultural transformation 
2. Cut food waste by half by 2030
3. Fuel innovation by investing in a sustainable, plant-powered food future
4. Develop a new national food strategy with plant-based food at the core
5. Revolutionise school meals by promoting health and sustainability with plant-based choices for the next generation
6. Subsidise and incentivise plant-based choices and cut red meat and dairy by 30% by 2030

There are five recommendations for the health sector, as hospital food should promote good health: 

1. Make plant-based choices the new norm and phase out processed meat in hospitals by 2030
2. Commit to promoting healthy and sustainable diets 
3. Cut NHS food waste by 50% by 2030
4. Empower health professionals by boosting plant-based nutrition knowledge
5. End financial support to industrial livestock companies

It says the UK now has the opportunity to undergo a transformational change to release ourselves from the burden of diseases due to unhealthy diets. Every 1 in 4 adults and 1 in 5 children are clinically obese, while in 2024 reportedly 7.2 million adults (13.6% of households) in the UK experienced food insecurity. A food system that enables, supports and promotes good health while allowing nature and biodiversity to thrive is essential. It calls for a just transition to predominantly plant-based diets to ensure maximum benefits to human health and the climate and nature crisis.