What the plant-based food sector wants from new UK government

In the wake of the UK general elections, The Plant-based Food Alliance UK (PBFA) last week laid out six asks for the newly elected Labour Government aimed at promoting healthy, climate-friendly food.

“The Labour Government is in a strong position to create structures that allow the country to harvest the abundant health, economic and environmental benefits of increasing plant-based food consumption,” said Marisa Heath, CEO of the Alliance. “In particular, a coherent food strategy that ticks health and climate goals, like the one introduced last year in Denmark, will support consumers to make better choices, will help the industry innovate, and ensure that UK farmers also benefit from a booming plant-based market,” Heath added.  

The six asks formulated by the PBFA are as follows:

Promote the role of plant-based foods in sustainable and healthy diets

Policymakers at the national, regional and local levels should be clear in their support for increasing plant-based food consumption and their role in helping the public eat sustainable and healthy diets. Plant-based foods should be scoped into new climate and health strategies, such as a land use framework, carbon budget delivery plan or green industrial strategy.

Develop a Plant-Based Action Plan to unlock new economic opportunities and bolster food security

A Plant-Based Action Plan should be developed, following in the footsteps of a similar initiative in Denmark, to ensure the UK becomes a world leader in this dynamic and rapidly growing sector. This could include new R&D funding distributed via a UKRI-Defra partnership, support for farmers to grow crops for plant-based products and investments in a wave of plant-based production facilities on British farms.

Update the Eatwell Guide in line with sustainability guidelines

Refresh the Eatwell Guide, including the latest evidence on the health and nutritional benefits of plant-based foods and integrating sustainability criteria such as GHG emissions and water usage.

Reform public procurement to prioritise sustainable foods

Update the Government Buying Standards and the School Food Standards to ensure that all food sold in public sector catering meets robust health, sustainability and animal welfare metrics. Standards should be linked to the refreshed Eatwell Guide. More fruit and vegetables should be served in public sector settings and at least one nutritious plant-based option should be available on public sector menus every day. Standards must be enshrined in law to ensure compliance and made more dynamic to allow local businesses and farms to benefit from procurement contracts.

Grow more fruit, vegetables, fungi and pulses in the UK

As promised in the Government Food Strategy, a plan for England’s horticulture sector should be developed and implemented, to reduce our dependence on fruit, vegetables, fungi and pulses grown overseas. This strategy should include a central role for innovation and infrastructure that can help scale supply chains to support the expansion of the plant-based sector.

Level the playing field for plant-based products

Current restrictions precluding plant-based dairy products from using protected dairy terminology such as milk and cheese must be reviewed. This is vital to build confidence and drive investment in the plant-based dairy sector and ensure a path to market for a new generation of fermentation-made products. The government should also work with the retail and out-of-home sectors to drive price parity between plant-based alternatives and animal-based foods, for example by equalising margins.

The UK already has one of Europe’s largest plant-based food markets and a large part of the population identify as 'flexitarian', meaning that they intentionally reduce their daily meat consumption, often for health, environmental or animal welfare reasons.  

A transition to more plant-based eating will help to reduce the huge impact that animal agriculture has on the environment as well as the climate. Animal agriculture is responsible for up to 20% of total global greenhouse gas emissions and 32% of methane emissions. The new Labour Government has confirmed it commitment to Net Zero but without transforming current food-consumption behaviours, the Net Zero goals and the Paris Agreement will not be achieved. There is a real need for Labour to consider the PBFA’s six asks alongside wider food policy reform.