The last week has seen significant change at the top of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), just as it reaches a critical stage in the development of the UK government’s Food Strategy
With everything to play for, it is vital that the environmental, health, economic and animal welfare benefits of plant-rich diets are front and centre in its thinking.
In a long-planned but timely move, The Vegan Society was among 48 organisations which issued a joint policy proposal to the UK government just after last week’s reshuffle. Reaping the Benefits of Plant-rich Diets: the Ten Point Plan outlines 10 practical, achievable measures to promote the consumption and production of plant-based foods in the UK, as an essential means of meeting the goals outlined by the government in July, when it launched the first stage of its strategy, known as the Good Food Cycle.
As Liam Lysaght of Foodrise UK, one of the organisations involved, said in the press release announcing the plan, it is “hard to see how the Government could ensure a resilient and sustainable food supply” without embracing plant-rich diets.
Policy context
The government’s announcement last December that it intended to develop a national food strategy was very welcome, and The Vegan Society has already taken part in official consultation meetings with Defra earlier in the year. In July, it announced an overall framework, but with no specific targets or means of delivery, providing a window of opportunity to ensure that the strategy includes meaningful action to promote the urgently needed transition towards more plant-based diets in the UK.
By providing an evidence-based, collaborative proposal, The Vegan Society and its partner signatories aim to achieve just that – underscoring for the new ministerial team that change is possible, practical and widely supported, among organisations, businesses and the public.
The paper’s proposals were developed following discussion among a range of groups, including The Vegan Society, and evaluating policy proposals that have already been made by a wide range of organisations (including our own Manifesto, published last year). They are focused on measures the government can implement at scale and at pace, including improving public procurement, offering more support to farmers transitioning to plant-based agriculture, reinforcing the horticulture sector, and raising public understanding of the benefits of healthy plant-rich diets. The paper also shows exactly how these measures can meet the government’s own stated goals for their strategy.
You can read the paper and proposals in full.
A united front
The views of the new Defra ministers responsible for the food strategy aren’t yet known, though we do know that the new Secretary of State, Emma Reynolds, met with the president of the National Farmers Union as soon as she stepped into office. The NFU – despite also representing farmers growing plant foods – is a steadfast and dogmatic supporter of animal farming.
In the face of such opposition, we were delighted to work alongside and gain the support of almost 50 established and respected organisations, associations and companies all committed to promoting the wide-ranging benefits of plant rich diets. Signatories to the plan include the Food Foundation, Doctors Association UK, Oatly, the British Growers Association (representing the horticulture industry), UK Health Alliance on Climate Change and Compassion in World Farming. As Lysaght stated, its mere existence demonstrates the “widespread agreement from health, environmental and food professionals that we can achieve food strategy goals with practical, integrated policies to promote more plant-rich diets”.
Importantly, the paper not only reflects expert consensus but also public support; a poll conducted by the signatory organisations found that 69% of the public want to eat more fruit, vegetables and other plant-based foods, and a further 69% believe that the government should take further action to help people do so.
Ultimately, it is clear that the government faces a choice: continue to uphold a status quo that undermines long-term food security, environmental protection and public health, or embrace the growing consensus emphasising plant-based diets as a key solution. We will be working hard with our partners over coming months to try to ensure they make the right one.
Take action
The joint statement has been sent to new Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary of State Emma Reynolds and Minister Dame Angela Eagle and to ministers at the Department of Health and Social care, and is being distributed to all MPs. The Vegan Society and our partners will also be promoting it at various upcoming events, including the Liberal Democrat and Labour Party Conferences.
However, we know that when constituents reach out to their MPs, it has a real impact. So please, write to your MP to urge them to support the joint statement on promoting plant-rich diets, and to contact ministers directly in support of its recommendations.
You can find your MP’s contact details via the Find MPs function on the UK Parliament website. (Please only write to your own constituency MP.)
Read our suggested text below but please feel free to use your own, so long as your message is brief and polite. If you receive a reply, please do forward it on to us at policy[at]vegansociety[dot]com.
Dear X
I hope all is well with you. I am one of your constituents and also a supporter of The Vegan Society.
Alongside 48 leading organisations from a range of sectors, The Vegan Society has submitted a joint policy paper to Defra and DHSC ministers, Reaping the Benefits of Plant-rich Diets: the Ten Point Plan. The paper calls on the government to promote the production and consumption of plant-rich diets in the UK as an essential contribution to meeting the goals and ambitions for the food strategy it has recently set out.
The paper identifies the benefits to public health, environmental protection, food security and economic growth represented by plant-rich diets, and how those benefits can be realised by practical and affordable policy measures. As the food strategy continues to be developed under new leadership at Defra, I urge you to support this timely collaborative initiative and to contact ministers to encourage them to implement the measures outlined in the proposal.
Thank you for considering this request.
Yours sincerely
X
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