A Year of Children’s Food

A Year of Children’s Food provides a progress update on policy to address children’s food poverty over the past year and allocates a traffic light rating to each of the four nations. It specifically focuses on Free School Meals, free holiday meals and the Healthy Start scheme. Off the back of England’s National Food Strategy, it makes recommendations for what policymakers should do now across the four nations.

Feeding Our Future

Covid-19 acted as a salient reminder that schools are not merely places where children go to learn. Rather, they also provide children with a space to socialise and a reliable source of food (for some) every day. Peas Please is a partnership project working across all four UK nations to get everyone eating more veg. School children are a particular focus for us given the concerningly low levels of vegetable consumption in this age group, with school food providing a real opportunity to support improved nutrition and veg intake among kids.

This report takes a candid look at the UK’s school food system, picking out examples of good practice from across the four nations, identifying opportunities for positive change, and making recommendations for policy and decision makers. The report is accompanied by four State of the Nation subreports which provide more detail about school food provision in each of the individual nations.

Investors’ letter supporting the National Food Strategy recommendations

We collaborated with a coalition of investors and their representatives, led by Rathbone Greenbank Investments, to call on the government to demonstrate clear leadership and ambition in its response to the National Food Strategy’s recommendations for promoting a healthier and more sustainable food system. Welcoming the Strategy’s publication, the coalition of investors demands that reporting standards be made mandatory for businesses if they are to make any real change.

National Food Strategy Youth Consultation

The Food Foundation consulted 426 young people from 24 schools and youth groups across the country on their opinions, experiences and priorities around food. Through workshops they explored issues relating to health, environment and money. A final national workshop was held online, in which 22 young people presented policy proposals. The findings of this report have fed directly into the development of the National Food Strategy.

The Broken Plate 2021

Ten vital signs documenting the health of our food system, how it impacts on our lives, and why we must change the food environment so that it delivers healthy and sustainable diets for everyone

Veg Facts 2021

Veg Facts 2021 follows on from 2020 and 2016’s Veg Facts reports, and looks once again at how much veg the UK is eating, exploring the headwinds and tailwinds we’ve seen over the intervening years that may both help and hinder future progress and pointing to potential solutions for tackling the challenge

MP Briefing: End Child Food Poverty – No Child Should Be Going Hungry

This briefing paper for MPs sets out the current statistics on child food poverty and food insecurity amongst families and children, ahead of the End Child Food Poverty – No Child Should Be Going Hungry parliamentary debate on 24th May 2021.

Mandatory business reporting to accelerate the food industry’s transition to healthy and sustainable food

A lack of basic, transparent data within the food industry is currently hindering progress towards healthy, just, and sustainable food systems. Businesses need good data to drive improvements in their own operations and supply chains, investors need good data to understand risks and opportunities related to the companies they invest in, and governments need good data to assess progress towards national targets.

This briefing recommends four approaches that the UK Government should take to strengthen business reporting requirements, and identifies which specific elements of policy on healthy and sustainable diets are applicable to
each approach.

Veg Voice Report: Covid Veg

Peas Please gathered stories from nearly a hundred people in the midst of UK-wide COVID-19 restrictions in 2020 (June–Aug). These present a picture of people’s experiences of accessing fruit and veg at a time of national crisis.

A CRISIS WITHIN A CRISIS: The Impact of Covid-19 on Household Food Security

New report on insights from Food Foundation Surveys on how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected food access in the UK (March 2020 to January 2021)

Plating Up Progress Toolkit 2020

A guide for assessing food business performance on health, sustainability and social inclusion

Letter to Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Education from Marcus Rashford, Chefs, NGOs, Health and Education Leaders asking for Comprehensive Free School Meals Review

Peas Please: Progress Report 2020

Plating Up Progress 2020: Pathways for a healthy, just and sustainable food system during a global pandemic

Christmas holiday hunger letter from Civil Society coalition to Department for Education

Healthy Start Scheme letter to The Chancellor of the Exchequer & Secretary of State for Health and Social Care

A letter signed by more than 50 public health directors, sector experts and healthcare professionals to Rishi Sunak (The Chancellor of the Exchequer) and Matt Hancock (Secretary of State for Health and Social Care) calling on Government to allocate additional funding to the Healthy Start scheme which supports low-income families.

Education Leaders letter to Ministers Asks for Action on Free School Meals and Holiday Provision

More than 30 influential education leaders wrote a letter to Ministers urging Government to act on the policy asks in Part 1 of the National Food Strategy.

Signatories include general secretaries of leading headteachers unions, Governance Association and 17 leaders of the largest multi academy trusts (representing 400 schools) who all joined forces to urge the Government to respond to tackle the growing issue of child food poverty.

The letter was addressed to Rishi Sunak, The Chancellor of the Exchequer and Gavin Williamson, Secretary of State for Education as well as Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care.

MP Briefing: PROTECTING VULNERABLE CHILDREN’S DIETS

This briefing paper sets out the current statistics on food insecurity amongst families and children and suggests that a careful and very targeted investment in three existing schemes (as recommended in the recent National Food Strategy commissioned by the Government, and as promoted by Marcus Rashford and his Child Food Poverty Task Force) would be a quick and well-evidenced way to begin tackling the problem. These schemes would also have other benefits – improving the long-term health and resilience of the population, reducing childhood obesity, improving children’s academic performance, supporting parents to stay in work during the holidays, and easing the strain on the welfare system. The programs align closely with the Government’s commitments to address inequalities and ‘level-up’ disadvantaged communities, spend £1billion on childcare to support parents, and help the country recover from Covid-19.

Representation to Comprehensive Spending Review

This representation sets out recommendations on Free School Meals, Healthy Start and holiday food
provision which the following organisations strongly support:
School Food Matters, Food Foundation, Bite Back 2030, Save the Children UK, Feeding Britain, Soil Association, Meals & More, Mayor’s Fund for London, Church Action on Poverty, Chefs in Schools, Alexandra Rose Charity, Community Shop, FareShare, Food Cycle.

The Broken Plate 2020 Report

Ten vital signs documenting the health of our food system, how it impacts on our lives, and why we must change the food environment

Covid-19 and the convenience store sector

A Food Foundation and Peas Please Report commissioned by the Association for Convenience Stores.

What is the likely impact of Covid-19 on food supply and consumption? How might consumer habits and attitudes to food change and what might this mean for the sector?

COVID-19: What impacts are unemployment and the Coronavirus Job Retention scheme having on food insecurity in the UK?

This briefing report uses data from two YouGov surveys commissioned by the Food Foundation over 14-17 May 2020 and 6-8 July 2020 to examine how risk of food insecurity compares for adults who have been furloughed or newly without work since February 2020 compared to those who have remained in work.

2020 Children’s Right2Food Charter

The 2020 Children’s Right2Food Charter has been updated in light of the problems exacerbated by the Covid-19 lockdown, and provides an evidence-based road map for the government to ensure that every children has access to a healthy diet.  The Charter is accompanied by a new briefing which points to a lack of action, slow progress and Covid-related delays in children’s food policy across all four UK nations despite two million children experiencing food insecurity since lockdown.

Global food systems – Covid-19 emergency food provision in Birmingham, UK, and Pune, India

Free School Meal Holiday Provision in England Parliamentary Facts and Figures Briefing

Veg Facts 2020: In Brief

An update on our 2016 report, Veg Facts 2020 is a Peas Please brief looking at the state of veg in the UK: how much are we eating and growing, what needs to change, and what next for more veg?

Covid-19 UK Veg Box Scheme Report

A Food Foundation report looking at UK veg box sales during the coronavirus lockdown. We found that veg box sales increased by 111% in the six weeks between the end of February 2020 and mid-April 2020.

Vulnerability to food insecurity since the COVID-19 lockdown

On the 11th April 2020, we reported the results of our YouGov survey which found that more than three million people reported going hungry in the first three weeks of the UK’s COVID-19 lockdown. This report from Dr Rachel Loopstra, King’s College London, explores what is driving hunger in the population at this time, asking, has the COVID-19 lockdown exacerbated food insecurity among those who regularly struggle to afford enough food, created new economic vulnerability on account of loss of work and income and the loss of free school meals for children, or created new vulnerability because people are self-isolating and unable to get the food they need?

Healthy Food Economy Policy Audit Tool

This report presents an audit tool the Food Foundation created for Birmingham Public Health on the extent to which their existing policies and programmes are creating a healthy food economy in the city. Included here is a toolkit for other Local Authorities to use and the report written for Birmingham Public Health as an example of a finished product.

2019 Peas Please Progress report

The 2nd Peas Please Progress Report has arrived, and it shows that UK food businesses have served 90 million additional portions of vegetables over the past two years as part of the Peas Please initiative.

London Children’s Food Insecurity briefing

This Children’s #Right2Food briefing looks at the scale and nature of children’s food insecurity in London. Building on the work done by the UK-wide Children’s Future Food Inquiry, the report profiles the views and experiences of young people in London and puts forward their London Children’s #Right2Food Charter, which identifies policy priorities from the national Charter and makes recommendations for their practical application in the capital.

Eating out of the home in Pune, India

This briefing summarises the findings from a household survey of eating out practices which the Gokhale Institute  conducted in Pune, India.  It has been developed as part of the partnership which we facilitate between Pune and Birmingham on smart nutrition policies.

Annual Report 2019

This is our forth annual report, where we give an update on what we have achieved this year and our strategy moving forward.

Food Foundation Submission to The National Food Strategy Call for Evidence: Getting our food policy governance right

Peas Please Submission to National Food Strategy Call for Evidence Final

Peas Please started with a simple concept: to make it easier for everyone in the UK to eat enough vegetables through food system change.

Food Foundation response to the Advancing our health prevention in the 2020s

Submission to the Health and Social Care Committee’s Inquiry on Childhood Obesity October 2019

Submission to Select Committee on Food, Poverty, Health and the Environment

The Food Foundation, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and SHEFS written submission to the House of Lords Select Committee on Food, Poverty, Health and the Environment

Plating Up Progress Part 2

Retailers, Caterers and restaurants aren’t reporting on their transition to healthy and sustainable diets. Why does this matter for investors and what can they do about it?

Plating Up Progress Part 2: Must-Have Metrics is a new investor briefing developed by the Food Climate Research Network at the University of Oxford and independent think tank the Food Foundation. The report demonstrates that investors can identify opportunities and avoid risks by understanding how far food businesses are prepared for the transition to sustainable and healthy food, and put forwards the necessary metrics for assessing progress.

Plating Up Progress

Plating Up Progress (a Food Climate Research Network (University of Oxford) and Food Foundation project) has released a new investor briefing, Plating Up Progress Part 1, which looks at the sustainability risks and opportunities that exist for food retailers, caterers and restaurants.

Find more information on the webinars or interest to the event here.

Children’s Future Food Inquiry final report

The Children’s Future Food Inquiry is the first attempt to directly and systematically seek the views of children and young people living in poverty across the UK. The project’s final report pulls together direct input from hundreds of young people, the front line staff, academics and experts.

The Broken Plate Report

Annual Report 2018

This is our third annual report, where we give an update on what we have achieved this year and our strategy moving forward

Healthy Returns: Opportunities for market-based solutions to childhood obesity

This report, produced for Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity and Big Society Capital, finds that food producers and retailers can play a vital role in tackling childhood obesity by addressing the unmet need of healthy, affordable food options for low income families.

Parliamentary briefing on the Agriculture Bill

2018 Peas Please progress report

Our first progress report, explaining what’s been achieved over the first year of Peas Please.  Packed full of case studies from our pledgers and insight into how we help everyone eat more veg.

Affordability of the UK’s Eatwell Guide

This report compares the cost of the Eatwell Guide with disposable income to estimate the proportion of income which would need to be allocated to food to afford the Eatwell Guide.

Food Foundation response to DEFRA’s Health and Harmony consultation

Food Foundation Response to DEFRA’s consultation on “Health and Harmony: the future for food, farming and the environment in a Green Brexit”

Fruit and Vegetable Alliance Submission to DEFRA’s Health and Harmony Consultation

Fruit and Vegetable Alliance Joint Response to “Health and Harmony: the future for food, farming and the environment in a Green Brexit”

Food Foundation submission to EFRA Select Committee Inquiry on Health and Harmony

Food Foundation response to the EFRA Select Committee’s Inquiry on DEFRA’s Consultation Paper “Health and Harmony”

Food Foundation response to Health Select Committee Inquiry on Childhood Obesity

Written Evidence Submitted by the Food Foundation to the Health and Social Care Committee’s Inquiry on Childhood Obesity

Response to Scottish Government Consultation

Food Foundation response to the Scottish Government’s consultation on their draft overweight and obesity plan: ‘A healthier future – action and ambitions on diet, activity and healthy weight’

Annual Report 2017

This is our second annual report, where we give an update on what we have achieved this year and our strategy moving forward.

Eating Better for Less

This report looks at ways in which we can incentivise fruit and veg consumption with price discounts at point of sale, drawing on examples from the USA.

Farming for 5-A-Day

This report asseses the impact of different Brexit scenarios on our ability to afford our 5-A Day.  It highlights the huge opportunity for government to create a new Agriculture Bill that supports British farmers and our heatlh.

International Learning Series

These briefings are the first of our ongoing international briefing series, a variety policy briefings to encourage international learning on food security & nutrition policy.

Food Environment Policy Briefing: Infographic

This infographic provides an overview of the Food Environment Policy Index at a glance.

Food Environment Policy Index: Policy Briefing

This briefing provides a summary of the results of the Food Environment Policy Index in England.

Food Environment Policy Index: Final Report

This report describes the methods and results for the Food Environment Policy Index in England.

Household Food Insecurity: the missing data

This policy briefing highlights the need for national household food insecurity measurement and looks at examples from Canada and the USA.

Veg Facts

Veg Facts is packed full of stats about veg consumption and production in the UK. It sets out the challenge for our Peas Please project which aims to tackle the supply side barriers to veg consumption.

Measuring household food insecurity in the UK and why we must do it

Food Foundation, Sustain and Oxford University policy briefing on the case for national measurement of household food insecurity.

The Sustainable Development Goals in the UK inquiry

Food Foundation’s written submission to the Environmental Audit Committee’s inquiry into the domestic implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Annual Report 2016

This is our first annual report, where we report on our activities in our first year. It currently includes some preliminary statistics which will be updated in September 2016 following the end of our financial year.

Submission to CAP

Submission to CAP consultation on food and drink advertising to children

Food Environment Policy Index: Evidence Paper

Update:  We have now validated the EPI Evidence Paper with Government officials and presented it to Academic Experts and Civil Society at an Expert Consultationbased on the INFORMAS methodology

The Food Foundation is in the process of developing the Food Environment Policy Index (Food-EPI). The Healthy Food Environment Policy Index aims to track the progress that governments have made towards good practice in improving food environments and nutrition. It identifies critical gaps in policies and infrastructure, provides a means of benchmarking against international best practice, and tracks progress over time.

#MakeRioCount: Nutrition for Growth Commitment

The Food Foundation, supported by World Cancer Research Fund International, Sustain, Church Action on Poverty and First Steps Nutrition worked, in collaboration, to define food and nutrition security priorities for the UK.  The result of this work is shown in the attached report, which proposes two commitments that the UK government should make, in addition to its international development commitments, at the forthcoming Rio Nutrition 4 Growth summit.  These commitments were presented to Parliamentarians, Government and NGO’s at an event in Parliament on the 13th April at which Ministers from the Department of Health and Department for International Development spoke, along with Olympian James Cracknell OBE.

Food and the EU Referendum

The Food Foundation co-convened an event in Parliamenton the 25th April on the implications of leaving or remaining in the European Union on UK food policy following the EU Referendum on the 23rd June.  This policy briefing summarises the debate between Prof Tim Lang, Prof Wyn Grant and Prof Fiona Smith, and Kerry McCarthy MP and Raymond Finch MEP as they discussed the food policy implications for both outcomes.  It also draws on two papers produced on the topic by the speakers and referenced at the end.  This paper attempts to address the key issues which voters will care about.

Time to Count the Hungry

In January 2016 The Food Foundation co-hosted aworkshop with the Food Research Collaboration, Sustain, Oxfam, and the Sociology Department of Oxford University, to look at the issue of measuring household food insecurity in the UK.  The workshop was attended by relevant academics and civil society organisations and it reviewed existing methods of measurement used by other countries and the UN and current activity around the UK.

The result of that workshop was Time to Count the Hungry, a report that highlights the need and benefit to use a standard measure of household food insecurity and suggests two possible formats.  Without measurement and full understanding of the problem, effective action cannot be taken.

Force-Fed

The Food Foundation publishes Force Fed, which shows how difficult it is for typical British families to eat a healthy diet and calls for concerted government action to incentivise the food system to make healthy eating easier.