Recommendation 27

The Government does not want to tell people what to eat, but from its plans to encourage people to eat more healthily it clearly understands its role in helping people make better choices. In any case, if the Government will not tell people what to eat, the advertising industry will: we heard that for every £5 spent on public health education, £200 is spent on junk food ads. We welcome the Government’s plans in its food strategy to encourage more sustainable eating, but there is more that it can do without being prescriptive. In addition to our recommendations on public procurement, we recommend that the Government should publish national guidance on sustainable diets within the next twelve months. The Government’s plans for a strong food curriculum in schools should include science-based education about the environmental impacts of food production, including food waste. The Government’s work on UK consumer seafood habits should explore how to encourage consumers to eat a wider variety of more sustainable species. (Paragraph 146) Building food system reliance