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Diets in the UK are unhealthy and environmentally unsustainable. Although there is a degree of controversy about what is precisely meant by unhealthy and unsustainable, we can all agree on some basics. We eat too many highly processed foods, not enough fruit and vegetables but too much meat, and we waste too much food in general. There is an extensive body of research which shows that advertising of unhealthy food has an adverse effect on diets – particularly children’s diets.
Restricting such advertising has long been the target of bodies like the World Health Organization and this is recognised by the UK Government through legislation restricting some advertising of unhealthy foods. More recently the public procurement of healthy food by local governments has been receiving more attention as a means of promoting healthy diets.
In the UK alone, the potential for public food procurement to drive change is considerable. This includes food purchased indirectly by the Government for sale and/or consumption in schools, hospitals, care homes, prisons, etc., for children in care, and for employees such as teachers, medical professionals and the armed forces – costing £2.4bn annually. The Government recognises its responsibility for providing healthy and sustainable food though its Government Buying Standards for Food and Catering Services (GBSF). But these are badly in need of an overhaul: the nutritional standards are out of date, environmental standards need expanding, and structures for their proper monitoring and enforcement need improving.