5th February
Sustain’s report (released November 2025), Bridging the Gap: How to fix the food system for everyone, calls for the creation of “just, healthy and sustainable UK food system will require system-wide change alongside strong leadership. Farming of nutritious food with lower inputs, lower greenhouse gas emissions, which restore nature and support decent livelihoods for a diversity of growers must become the mainstream to build nutritional security and domestic resilience against global shocks. Our policy recommendations include ways to significantly increase domestic fruit and veg production in the UK7 and, with this, more jobs (up to 80 jobs per thousand tonnes produced), benefiting local communities.9
“Alongside this we need to double the consumption of fruit, veg and pulses to improve people’s health while securing a market for growers, supporting the transition to climate and nature friendly farming. For this triple bottom line to be possible, good food must be available and affordable in local retail settings and across our schools and hospitals, sourced through ethical, value-based supply chains that provide growers with better and more reliable incomes than what they currently experience via supermarket supply chains.11
“If we are to produce food that is good for people and for the planet, and accessible to everyone regardless of their income, the Government must actively support climate and nature friendly horticulture and lead by example on how our food is bought and sold.” (1)
The report lists three clear policy recommendations:-
1. Fix the supply – Boost British fruit, veg and pulse production
• Introduce cross-departmental horticulture strategies across the nations to support green growth and boost production and consumption of fruit, vegetables and pulses
* Support small-scale and organic farmers through grants, better land access, and training programmes
2. Fix the missing middle – Ensure fair prices and invest in infrastructure
•Invest in local food infrastructure like food hubs, processing and packing facilities (particularly for legumes), and distribution centres to help smaller local producers get produce to market.
•Strengthen supply chain fairness to enforce fair dealing across more of the supply chain.
3. Fix the access – Enable everyone to eat good food
• Use the state’s £5 billion of public food procurement from schools and hospitals to create stable markets for organic and locally produced produce. This will deliver on the Labour Government election manifesto commitment to ensure 50% of publicly procured food is local or to a higher environmental standard.
- Run pilots and roll-out schemes to make healthy food more affordable for low-income households and reduce NHS spending, such as vouchers and ‘fruit and veg on prescription’. (1)
The report details 9 different pilot schemes that have been running for the last two years, and the results show clear win-win outcomes for health, climate and environment, local economies, and food security.
Will the government take on these recommendations? Will they be supported by the farming industry, by retailers and by consumers?
The Green Tau 