APPG on the National Food Strategy
The APPG on the National Food Strategy brings together parliamentarians from across the political spectrum. Its aim is to promote cross-party thinking and cross-departmental leadership on food policy, in the run-up to and after the publication of the National Food Strategy in 2021.
The APPG is chaired by Jo Gideon, MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central. The Food Foundation provides Secretariat services.
If you would like to be added to our mailing list to hear about future events being held by the APPG, please contact office@foodfoundation.org.uk.
APPG officers
- Chair: Jo Gideon MP
- Vice-chair: Kerry McCarthy MP
- Vice-chair: Selaine Saxby MP
- Vice-chair: Ian Byrne MP
- Vice-chair: Dean Russell MP
- Vice-chair: Sharon Hodgson MP
- Vice-chair: The Rt Hon. the Earl of Caithness
- Vice-chair: The Lord McColl of Dulwich CBE
- Vice-chair: The Lord Curry of Kirkharle CBE
APPG public meetings
Meeting 1: Does a new National Food Strategy require new structures in Government?
We met to consider the following questions:
- What structures are needed in Government to ensure that a new food strategy is effectively delivered?
- What is needed in terms of leadership?
- What are the best ways of achieving accountability for actions in the strategy?
Speakers:
- Moderator: Simon Maxwell, Senior Research Associate at the Overseas Development Institute
- Andrew Jarvis – Vice-President at ICF International, Previously led a review of UK food policy culminating in the 2008 report, Food Matters: Towards a Strategy for the 21st Century
- Kelly Parsons – University of Hertfordshire, her research is focused on the role of policy and governance structures in food systems
- Jane Corbett – Councillor for Liverpool City Council, Assistant Mayor of Liverpool & Mayoral Lead – Fairness & Tackling Poverty
- Claire Pritchard – Chair of the London Food Board and CEO of Greenwich Cooperative Development Agency, GCD
Meeting 2: What should the National Food Strategy be proposing to tackle obesity?
We met to consider the following questions:
- What evidence do we have about what works in tackling obesity?
- To what extent is tackling obesity an individual responsibility?
- What are the current barriers to tackling obesity?
- How could the National Food Strategy help?
Speakers:
- Moderator: Baroness Jenkin of Kennington, Vice-Chair of the APPG on Obesity and Peer in the House of Lords
- Professor Martin White, Centre for Diet and Activity Research (CEDAR), MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge
- Sarah Hickey, Programme Director – Childhood Obesity, Impact on Urban Health
- Stefano Agostini, Chair of Food and Drink Sector Council Working Group on the National Food Strategy, andCEO, Nestlé UK & Ireland
- Caroline Cerny, Alliance Lead at Obesity Health Alliance
Meeting 3: What should the National Food Strategy be proposing to tackle dietary inequalities?
We met to consider the following questions:
- What does the evidence show about the dietary outcomes that different demographic groups experience?
- What do we know about what works in reducing dietary inequalities and food insecurity?
- How could the National Food Strategy help?
Speakers:
- Moderator: Lord Curry of Kirkharle CBE, Peer and former chair of the 2001-2 Policy Commission on the Future of Farming and Food
- Lord Krebs, Crossbench Peer since 2007 and Emeritus Professor at Oxford University. Chaired the House of Lords Select Committee Inquiry into Food, Poverty, Health and the Environment in 2019-2020. The Committee’s report, entitled “Hungry for Change: Fixing the Failures in Food”, was published last summer.
- Dr Maria Bryant, Reader in Public Health Nutrition at the University of York, Director of Nutrition Research for the Born in Bradford study, and Chair of the Board of Trustees for the UK Study of Obesity
- Deidre Woods, Visiting research associate, Coventry University, member of the London Food Board, and co-founder of Granville Community Kitchen
- Simon Shaw, Head of Food Poverty Programme, Sustain and Churchill Fellow
Meeting 4: How should the National Food Strategy address the challenge of climate change?
We met to consider the following questions:
- How does the food system contribute to climate change?
- How is the food system impacted by climate change?
- What do we know about what works in reducing emissions and increasing climate-resilience in different areas of the food system?
- How can policy incentivise and accelerate the necessary transitions?
- What should the National Food Strategy propose?
Speakers:
- Prof Alan Dangour – Professor in Food and Nutrition for Global Health, and Director, Centre on Climate Change and Planetary Health, LSHTM
- Karen Fisher – Special Advisor, Food Sustainability Team, WRAP
- Andrew Weston – Senior Public Affairs and Campaign Manager, Co-Op
- Chris Howe – Head of Food and Landscapes, WWF
Meeting 5: How should the National Food Strategy support rural communities, urban food systems and “good food jobs”?
We met to consider the following questions:
- What role does the food and farming sector currently play in providing employment (nationally and locally)?
- How does the food system shape local economies in rural and urban areas?
- What is a “good food job”?
- What examples do we have of effective local food systems? Are local food systems more likely to provide good food jobs?
- What policy changes could the National Food Strategy recommend to support food system employment and local economies?
Speakers:
- Prof Terry Marsden – Professor of Environmental Policy and Planning, Cardiff University; Director of PLACE
- Bridget Henderson – Research officer for the food, drink and agriculture sector, Unite
- Aine Morris – Executive Director, Bristol Food Union
- Lee Abbey – Chief Advisor Horticulture and Potatoes, National Farmers Union
