Vitagri has today published the GroundUp Framework — a seven-component system for measuring, verifying, and rewarding the nutritional quality of food produced on UK farms. The framework is now available for review and engagement by farming businesses, food retailers, researchers, and policymakers.
The GroundUp Framework represents the first time that a comprehensive, evidence-based infrastructure for nutritional quality measurement has been developed for the UK food system. It builds directly on the Growing Health white paper — Vitagri's 51-page synthesis of over 3,000 peer-reviewed studies on the link between soil health and human nutrition — and translates that evidence base into a practical set of principles and protocols.
The Seven Components
The GroundUp Framework is built around seven interconnected components, each addressing a distinct aspect of the measurement and verification challenge:
- Measure What Matters — standardised protocols for testing nutritional markers in crops and animal products, going beyond macronutrients to include minerals, vitamins, antioxidants, and omega-3 fatty acid profiles
- Reward What Works — pricing and premium structures that connect verified nutritional quality to farm-gate returns, creating a direct economic incentive for improvement
- Build Supply Chain Pathways — infrastructure for verified nutrient-dense food to move from farm to retailer to consumer with nutritional claims that can be trusted
- Enable Market Signals — consumer-facing communication tools that translate verified nutritional data into meaningful information at point of purchase
- Create an Accountability Framework — independent verification and audit processes that make nutritional quality claims credible to regulators, buyers, and consumers
- Scale Across UK Farming Systems — protocols adapted to the diversity of UK farming — arable, dairy, horticulture, livestock — rather than a one-size approach
- Integrate Policy & Practice — engagement with government, regulators, and public procurement to embed nutritional quality within agricultural policy
Why Now?
The timing reflects both the maturity of the scientific evidence and the current window of policy opportunity. The UK's post-Brexit agricultural transition — away from area-based payments and towards public-goods-based rewards — provides a genuine opening to integrate nutritional quality into public policy for the first time. The Sustainable Farming Incentive is a step in the right direction on environmental outcomes; the GroundUp Framework is designed to extend that logic to nutritional ones.
Simultaneously, consumer demand for credible nutritional quality claims is accelerating. Research commissioned by food retailers consistently shows that majorities of UK shoppers would pay more for food with verified, specific nutritional credentials — not marketing language, but actual data. The infrastructure to deliver that does not yet exist at commercial scale. The GroundUp Framework is the beginning of building it.
How to Engage
Vitagri is now seeking engagement from across the food system:
- Farmers and farming businesses interested in trialling the measurement protocols and participating in the GroundUp pilot programme
- Food retailers, caterers, and manufacturers looking to build verifiable nutritional quality into procurement and product positioning
- Research institutions with expertise in soil science, nutrition, food systems, or verification methodology
- Policy stakeholders engaged in agricultural transition, public procurement reform, or food labelling regulation
- Investors interested in the commercial infrastructure that a functioning nutrient density market will require
The GroundUp Framework is published on the Vitagri website and is available for review, feedback, and collaborative development. We believe that building this infrastructure is a systems challenge that requires participation from across the food system — not something one organisation can or should do alone.
To explore the GroundUp Framework in full, or to discuss how your organisation might engage, visit the Framework page or contact the Vitagri team.
