National Food Strategy: Public Dialogue Findings

Taking action to make the food system healthier and more sustainable is not just a question of finding the ‘right answer’. It involves difficult questions about values and what sort of society we want to be. What is the role of the state in helping people to change their diet? How much do we value choice and freedom over health and sustainability? What do we want our land and countryside to look like? There are no right answers to these questions. So we set out to engage deeply with a group of citizens from across the country. We wanted to understand what people really thought about these fundamental issues. And to do that, we needed to go beyond the usual approach of polling or the odd focus group. We needed to get into a proper conversation with people, informed by the best and most up to date information but driven by the assumptions, values, needs and desires of those present. These ‘public dialogues’ were inspirational events. No written report could ever hope to capture the full depth and richness of a discussion involving 180 people across the country over 18 months. Throughout this process we have been consistently inspired by the depth of passion and experience which citizens bring to this conversation.