Eating Better

Alliance member, Alliance to Save our Antibiotics, recently published a new report that shows that organic livestock farms certified by the Soil Association use far fewer antibiotics than the UK average. The survey, covering over 200 farms, found that the organic farms used less than a quarter of the amount of antibiotics used on non-organic farms.

The menus at the Mexican inspired chain Wahaca, which has 13 sites across the UK, is now around 50% plant-based, while its sourcing policy focuses on “better” meat and local produce from the best of British farms

Food lovers across the UK have had a long time to contemplate their passion this last year. In one of the precious few positives to emerge from the pandemic, survey after survey shows our relationship with food has changed – for the better.

The Plating Up Progress report from the Food Foundation tracks the progress of food retail and food service on setting and reporting on targets towards a healthy and sustainable food system. The dashboards can be used by policy makers, food businesses and investors.  

The FAIRR Initiative is a collaborative investor network of 250+ institutional investors with around $15tn in combined assets that has been engaging global food companies across the supply chain on a range of ESG issues since 2015.

Certified by Eating Better members the Soil Association and Pasture for Life, award winning Eversfield Organic in Devon is an example of a business putting the focus on “less and better” meat. 

Award winning Hodmedods is a small but growing, independent UK business founded in 2021, which has harnessed the opportunity to produce and sell more beans and pulses.

The EU’s trade policy is currently the best example of successfully enforcing standards of environmental protection, animal welfare and climate resilience in trade. 

Rose Vouchers are a local, charity led project that helps families on low incomes to buy a good variety of fresh fruit and vegetables at local markets.

Sheffield has declared a nature emergency and is working to ensure that local planning decisions help nature to recover.   

Mandeville Primary school in Hackney weaves food education into the curriculum, teaching children how to grow, cook and eat fresh food that’s healthy and sustainable. Lessons take place on site at Hackney School of Food, bringing together chefs, gardners and educators to support children and their families to learn to cook from scratch.

Leeds City Council is normalising sustainable diets through public procurement and helping schools lower the carbon footprint of the meals they serve through a range of measures.

Denmark is one of only a few countries to have introduced dietar y guidelines ​​that focus on both population health and that of the planet. Recognising that citizens were eating too much meat, the Danish Government drew up a new food policy

A better food environment needs a more holistic, inclusive approach to policy making. The City of São Paulo has a programme called ‘Ligue os Pontos’ or “Connect the dots,” recognising that an integrated food and farming policy supports rural economies, while supplying the city with fresh, organic produce.

Waitrose’s farming commitments demonstrate its leadership in farm animal welfare and deliver “better.” It holds 14 Retailer Awards from Compassion in World Farming, including five Good Farm Animal Welfare Awards. Waitrose is ranked as tier one leaders by Business Benchmark on Farm Animal Welfare.

Sainsbury’s has taken the first steps toward embedding a sustainable diets strategy across the business. The food retailer’s ‘Helping Everyone Eat Better’ brand commitment is focused on supporting healthier and more sustainable diets through a number of strategies.

Initially developed with Tesco, WWF is now working with five UK supermarkets to halve the environmental impact of UK baskets by 2030, using the WWF Basket metric to track progress.   

The Co-op is encouraging its customers to reduce meat consumption and eat more plants by pricing plant-based foods competitively against meat products. The retailer is doing this as part of its Climate Plan and Count Us In programme.

Eating Better’s public attitudes survey found almost three-quarters of the UK public would like to do more to support farmers that have high animal welfare and environmental standards.

Inspired by customer demand for healthier, more sustainable food, Food Equilibrium (Food EQ) was born out of the BaxterStorey’s Chef Academy programme, and aims to empower and inspire chefs to make plants and grains the stars of the plate. For Food EQ “fresh ingredients + well trained chefs = great food.”

The University of Winchester developed its sustainable food policy, LIFE (local, independent, fair and ethical) in 2010, to ensure that provenance and ethical standards were a driving factor for food purchasing.

With restaurants across the UK, Wagamama is helping people eat more plants by broadening its menu to make plant-rich dishes as tasty and accessible as possible. 

By making plant-based dishes sound just as appealing as meat ones, food service can nudge diners towards more sustainable choices when eating out.   

Rivers and streams are the blue arteries of our landscape. The freshwater that flows through them is the lifeblood that sustains our food and farming system, pumping the soils in our fields with nutrients to grow crops and feed grazing cattle.