We have five criteria to assess the National Food Strategy Plan, published today, 15th July.
They are:
- Do their recommendations support all UK households to have economic access to sufficient supplies of safe, nutritious food?
Our response to this question is here. - What are their recommendations about ensuring food safety, assurance and integrity?
Our response to this question is here. - What recommendations do they make to curb the power of corporates who make and promote products that damage human and planetary health?
Our response to this question is here. - What contribution does this plan make to UK preparedness for future food shortages and scarcities?
Our response to this question is here. - How much does the plan reflect a reliance on individual behaviour, and how much on measures to promote collective resilience?*
Our response to this question is here.
And, finally, how do answers to all of the above contribute to the best of humanity?
A summary of our assessment is here: None of our criteria was met. Does this matter?
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notes:
Our criteria do not cover everything in the National Food Strategy, but only those areas in which we have focussed our work over the last seven years. Hence there is nothing in our response to the Strategy about matters which we don’t feel competent to do so, for example, about farming and land use.
Our response to the National Food Strategy Call for Evidence was submitted at the end of October 2019 and can be found here.
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*In this regard, do read Stephen Reicher and Linda Bauld’s paper: From the ‘fragile rationalist’ to ‘collective resilience: What human psychology has taught us about the Covid-19 pandemic and what the Covid-19 pandemic has taught us about human psychology.