National Food Strategy: The Plan (Part Two: Final Report)

In these pages, we will take a close look at how the food system really works, the damage it is doing to our bodies and our ecosystem, and the interventions we could make to prevent these harms. We will consider the characteristics of complex systems and the mechanisms that cause system failures. And we will set out a strategy for the future, based not just on rigorous science but on the needs and wishes of ordinary citizens. In writing this strategy (for England), I have been able to call upon the research, commitment, energy and insight of academics, farmers, scientists, business leaders, charity workers, politicians and experts from many fields. In the course of researching this strategy, we – the National Food Strategy team – conducted extensive interviews with people at the sharp end of the food system. We also held “deliberative dialogues” with citizens across the country to establish what changes the public is willing to embrace. The recommendations we have put together are intended to create the kind of food system the people of this country say they want – and need.