Summary
The National Food Strategy: The Plan (2021) is an independent review commissioned by the UK Government and led by Henry Dimbleby, representing the first comprehensive independent review of the UK food system in decades. It diagnoses systemic failures across the food chain — including diet-related ill health, environmental unsustainability, and deep inequalities in food access — and proposes a suite of legislative and fiscal reforms. The report is notable for its cross-departmental scope, addressing agriculture, public health, trade, and social policy simultaneously.
UK applicability
The report is entirely UK-focused and directly applicable to UK policy, covering England primarily but with relevance to devolved nations. Its recommendations, including a proposed Food Bill, sugar and salt taxes, and land use reform, were aimed explicitly at UK government and informed subsequent policy discussions around the UK Food Strategy White Paper.
Key measures
Diet-related disease prevalence; food insecurity rates; environmental impact indicators; food system cost estimates; policy implementation frameworks
Outcomes reported
The review examined the structural, economic, and public health failures of the UK food system, reporting on diet-related ill health, food insecurity, environmental degradation, and inequalities in access to nutritious food. It set out a series of policy recommendations for government, industry, and civil society to reform the food system.
Topic tags
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