In Westminster and politics...

Defra confirmed a national food strategy would be developed

Starting in the new year, Defra will begin to engage with food system actors to co-develop a national food strategy. It will work across a number of government departments, including the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department of Education, and apparently has the support of the PM and the Business Secretary. The strategy will be ‘backed by a clear vision and framework for change from government’. Read our summary, analysis, and who to contact at Defra. 

Attention ramped up on obesity and poor-diet 

Pressure built (and continues to) on the government to tackle the UK’s obesity epidemic. The House of Lords Food, Diet and Obesity Committee released a brutally honest report about the UK’s obesity crisis, saying there had been ‘utter failure’ by successive governments to tackle it. It went as far as to say that poor diet was not due to a ‘collective loss of willpower’ by individuals, but a system built on corporate profits made from unhealthy food. Read our summary and analysis.

Then came Henry Dimbleby and Dr Dolly van Tulleken’s report, Nourishing Britain, comprised of interviews with top former politicians, including PMs, about why governments have failed to tackle diet-related ill-health. Fear of being accused of ‘nanny statism’ was the biggest barrier, fuelled by the right-wing press and libertarian Westminster colleagues. Read our summary and analysis. 

More: The Centre for Food Policy at UCL has a webinar with Dr Dolly van Tulleken on 16 Jan about her report; there’s a new House of Lords podcast episode about its obesity inquiry; and a Cambridge Global Food Security webinar with Dr Chris van Tulleken and other experts about ‘UPFs – are they making us sick or keeping us fed?’ (great title).

Stark warnings were made about the weakening of UK democracy 

A report by Dame Sara Khan warned that the UK faced a “chronic risk of democratic decline” due to weakening social cohesion, increased polarisation and the spread of extremist narratives and conspiracy theories. Why am I including this in a newsletter about food and net zero? Because these trends are already playing out in debates around net zero policies and actions – with conspiracy theorists and others jumping on (and fuelling) farmers’ concerns and protests in Europe and the UK this year, including most recently debate about Arla’s use of Bovaer feed additive. DeSmog has done some good investigations on the different actors vying for farmers’ attention, such as here and here. In short, transforming our food system will mean countering these narratives and interests. Read Dame Sara Khan’s report. 

Inheritance tax debate rumbled on 

Farmers took to London’s streets in droves to protest against changes to inheritance tax (IHT) announced in the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget. We ran a webinar about IHT and analysed what it meant for farming and the countryside, and also what it meant for food and health.  The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee launched an inquiry into the future of farming in December, which received oral evidence about the IHT changes.

CCC called for government action on methane 

The House of Lords’ Environment & Climate Change Committee called on the government to produce a ‘methane action plan’ and identify ‘the most cost-effective traditional and cutting-edge technological options in agriculture to mitigate methane and support farmers to adopt them’. This followed the committee’s methane inquiry on whether the UK is on track to achieve the target set out by the Global Methane Pledge, of which it is a signatory. Access the methane report. Meanwhile, the CCC also advised that UK emissions should reduce by 81% by 2035, and it appointed its new chief executive, Emma Pinchbeck.

In the food and farming industry...

Public concern erupted over Bovaer methane-busting feed additive

The level of public concern and debate about Arla’s use of the Bovaer feed additive, designed to reduce methane emissions from cows, completely blind-sided many people, including Arla. There were two things of note: First – the public may not be accepting of emissions-fighting technology if it is perceived as altering their food. Secondly – many of the same actors who jumped on the farmer protests, came out in force again to whip up tension and push an anti-net-zero agenda (see story further up). This all led to the BBC writing a piece about misinformation, the Science Media Centre putting out a comment from scientists, and the Food Standards Agency trying to calm things down . Arla’s MD also responded for the first time on this Kite podcast episode (note; Arla is a client of Kite). To get the science direct, read the FSA’s assessment of Bovaer. 

Lidl became the first UK retailer to set a plant-based protein target

Lidl GB committed to offer ‘market leading’ prices for plant-based protein products, to ‘break down key barriers that currently exist within the category, like price, quality, and availability’, so that ‘high quality plant-based foods [are] accessible to everyone [and] more customers can afford to make healthy and sustainable choices’. The discounter is more than tripling the number of plant-based products that it offers, and has also committed to doubling the proportion of sales of plant-based protein from dairy alternatives in the same period. Read Lidl’s announcement.

IGD set out the first net zero transition plan for the UK food system

The food industry organisation set out a strategic transition plan to get the UK food system to net zero; how businesses and government could work together and how supply chain disruptions, risk and cost could be managed. Defra Minister, Daniel Zeichner, said the plan ‘had the ears of Government’ and pledged that he and his team were committed to a ‘just’ transition that didn’t come at the expense of productivity and profitability. Read the report and summary, and the guide for industry leaders and decision makers. A big thank you to Amy Jackson, our Behaviour Change Champion, for her reporting from the event.

The key findings in the plan:

• Achieving sector net zero targets by 2030 and 2050 is extremely stretching, but possible.

• Major transformation is needed in all aspects of the food system’s supply side, including low carbon farming and elimination of deforestation from supply chains.

• Demand-side change is needed including reductions in household food waste and dietary shift.

• Innovation is a key driver of emissions reductions.

• Common methodologies for carbon footprinting, better data, and integrated systems are needed to support reductions.

• Government must strengthen policies and incentives.

• Industry collectively can accelerate progress by supporting farmers on their net zero journey, developing approaches for overseas sourcing, and supporting consumers with changes to food waste and diet; individual companies can drive decarbonisation in their operations.

And, internationally...

Denmark agreed the world’s first tax on agricultural emissions

From 2030, farmers will have to pay a levy of 300 kroner ($43; £34) per tonne of methane (as per carbon dioxide equivalent) on emissions from livestock including cows and pigs, which will rise to 750 kroner in 2035. The deal was agreed after months of negotiations between the country’s major parties, farmers, the industry, trade unions and environmental groups, following the announcement of the levy in June. This is the world’s first tax on agricultural emissions, including flatulence by livestock. Read more. 

Following farmer protests, a coalition set out a vision for sustainable EU food systems 

Following farmer protests across the EU, the commissioner launched a ‘strategic dialogue’ between food system stakeholders and actors, including farming and environmental groups, and retailers and manufacturers. They were tasked with fleshing out a shared vision for the future of a sustainable EU food systems. There is a lot in this report, but two interesting things were of note; Firstly, the need for a protein transition, and secondly, for a fund outside of the CAP to fund a just transition for farmers (to both facilitate the transition and compensate those that lose out). Apparently, though, farming groups were a bit taken aback by the strength of what the report eventually said on protein, and have since tried to distance themselves. Meanwhile, the food industry is more on board because they know their Scope 3 emissions rely on this shift. A good further digest of the report is by food systems journalist Thin Lei Win. Read the report. 

COP29 was a flop, but there’s hope for Brazil next year 

All eyes (and hope) adigre on Brazil which is due to host COP30 next year, after both the COP19 biodiversity conference in Colombia, and COP29 climate conference in Azerbaijan, ended in chaotic scenes last month. Our co-lead, Prof Tim Benton, predicted there would be very little progress at COP29, and explained why Brazil’s unique natural resources and agricultural economy offers greater hope for climate negotiations next year. Read our interview with Tim Benton.