A week of devastating plot twists

Why is it so difficult to get policy progress on food?  Just when we thought we were in an era of action and optimism, this last week has seen several devastating plot twists that will set us back years in achieving a health promoting food system.

The policy U-turn by the UK government on 14^th May ignores all the evidence and wipes out measures that had already made it into law.  The U-turn will see a delay in implementation of the restrictions on TV and online advertising across the UK and on tackling aspects of unhealthy food promotions in England. 

Adverts and promotions work, they help sell us products that we don’t need in a healthy diet.  They impact on our children’s diets and ultimately their health.  This undermining decision by the UK Government means we have very little hope of achieving the change in the food environment that we need to protect our children’s health. 

In an era of a public health pandemic this shocking disregard for health is unacceptable. Devi Sridhar, Professor of Global Public Health at University of Edinburgh and a regular on our TV screens over the last two years, has acknowledged that one of the reasons our death rate in the UK from COVID is worse than many other countries is our underlying health vulnerabilities, including obesity.  With nationwide commitment to halving rates of childhood obesity by 2030, we needed actions with impact, actions that would ensure junk food is taken out of the spotlight for children.  Those actions have been put on hold once again.

Progress in this policy arena is slow and difficult. We may have had many policy announcements over the years from UK and Scottish Government but very few of the policies, that will make a difference, have made it to implementation stage.  It is clear that Big Food and food industry profits achieve a higher value to decision-takers than children’s health. The rising cost of living should not be an excuse to sustain a food system that harms children longer term.

And it is not just UK Government.  The Scottish Government have delayed the introduction of the legislation to restrict promotion of unhealthy foods.  It was first promised in a 2018 action plan on healthy weight but has not yet started on its legislative journey. 

And in an equally disappointing plot twist, the opportunity offered by the Good Food Nation Bill, currently making its way through the Scottish Parliament, was dealt a blow last week when the RAINE (Rural Affairs, Islands and Natural Environment) Committee voted against all but some very minor amendments to the Bill. This Bill was a chance for Scottish Government to demonstrate that it wants to create a food system that values more than the export market, but MSPs on the Committee voted down the many amendments to achieve that. Let’s hope Stage 3 of the Bill process achieves the change needed to allow us to create a food system that values human and planetary health.  We will continue our work with the Scottish Food Coalition in the hope of achieving that.

What are the lessons in all these recent setbacks?  It is not the evidence that is in question, it is political will for change that is under serious question. The UK Government must reconsider its decision and implement these measures without delay and the Scottish Government must deliver a Good Food Nation Bill that can change the food system.  We cannot allow the profits of the food industry to matter more than the health of our children.