Eating Better

Local diets have global impacts. We have developed a new guide and film to support local authorities to serve and source healthier, more sustainable meals.

‘Good stuff happens after a great meal’ is the motto of our newest member to the Eating Better alliance, eat:Festivals, a not-for-profit social enterprise, which operates predominantly in the South West of England.

‘Producing Better’ is the first in our trilogy of Eating Better films which aim to bring our “Better by Half” roadmap to life, showcasing the businesses and organisations that are putting sustainability at the heart of their operations...

Forward Food is the Humane Society International’s plant-based programme, working with major food service and universities to put more plants on plates.

The National Food Strategy outlines a comprehensive plan to get us all eating better over the next decade, from a salt and sugar tax on processed foods to better support for farmers to move to more sustainable models, and teaching school children about food and how to cook.

The latest Broken Plate Report, the third in the series, from The Food Foundation shows the state of our current food system and the huge challenges we face in ensuring that everyone in the UK can afford and access a healthy and sustainable diet.

Our latest ready meals snapshot reveals that plant-based meals are the fastest growing category, up by 92% since our first survey in 2018.

Eating Better is delighted to welcome The Wildlife Trusts as its newest supporter, bringing a new voice to our campaign and proving that eating “less and better” is good for nature and climate.

Eating Better member organisation Feedback has just published their Meat and Climate Supermarket Scorecard for 2021, ranking the top ten UK retailers on their work to address the climate crisis by reducing the environmental impact of the meat and dairy they sell.

The Veg Facts 2021 report from Peas Please continues to show both adults and children are not consuming enough veg to meet the Government’s Eatwell Guide recommendations, with 29% of 5-10 year olds eating less than a portion of veg a day.

The results from our latest survey with Public Sector Catering show the sector’s continued progress towards serving less meat in public sector meals.

Eating Better Trustee Duncan Williamson and founder at Nourishing Food Systems looks at the connections between nutrition and nature for our mental wellbeing.

Hodmedods leads the way on getting more home-grown pulses into British kitchens.

During my research into intensive chicken farming across Herefordshire and Shropshire I encountered many modern poultry units over the last few years. And as I have walked close to the massive metal clad ‘sheds’, each of which stretches over 100m, one question has kept nagging at me: is this actually farming?

As we emerge from the pandemic, it’s time to hit reset - we can’t go back to business-as-usual. We need to take action to fix the climate and nature emergency, but we can’t do this without tackling food.

School Food Matters is the newest member to Eating Better, bringing another major voice on school food advocacy to the alliance. The charity exists to teach children about food, where it comes from and how it’s grown and to improve children’s access to healthy, sustainable food.

Last year Unchecked UK carried out a  series of teleforums with swing voters in five “Red Wall’ constituencies that changed hands from Labour to Conservative in the December 2019 election. They explored how the constituents felt about regulation and standards in general, and specifically in relation to both food and climate change.

A new study interviews senior retail representatives to explore their perceptions of sustainable diets, the strategies they’re adopting to provide and promote ‘less and better’, and the challenges they face in doing so, providing insight as to the progress that’s been made on this agenda.

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.

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.

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.

The UN COP26 climate talks held in the city later this year ‘must tackle food systems’ to get the world eating better and on track for net-zero.

Eating Better launches an ambitious plan to help retailers and restaurants source climate and nature friendly meat.

Agriculture is the main threat to 86% of the 28,000 species known to be at risk of extinction, according to the new report from Chatham House,  supported by UNEP and Compassion in World Farming.