A major new report on the state of the UK’s retail and food industry has found it is failing to take action across a number of key environmental measures as it calls for mandatory reporting on the sale of meat.
Published by The Food Foundation, the state of the nation report has found that very few businesses have set public targets for reducing the amount of meat sold, despite the Climate Change Committee recommending a 35% reduction if the UK is to meet its net zero target by 2050.
The report also revealed that – despite the fact that it would reduce their carbon footprint – no single major UK food business has set a target for addressing the percentage of its sales coming from both animal and plant proteins.
As a result of its findings, The Food Foundation is calling on all businesses to measure and report on the percentage of its sales which come from both animal and plant proteins in order to help shift consumption patterns.
Several businesses have set targets to increase sales of plant-based proteins but have not set simultaneous targets to reduce their sales of animal proteins.
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Government delays on making this and other reporting mandatory has significantly slowed business progress, with fewer commitments to healthy and sustainable diets being set in comparison to last year.
The Food Foundation is urging businesses to report these figures, but is also calling on policymakers to introduce mandatory reporting, as companies are delaying new commitments until the government has established a clear framework.
This lack of regulation from government has seen the Food Data Transparency Partnership (FDTP) being scaled back to make reporting voluntary and the Eco Working Group pushing back information on reporting on carbon targets until 2024.
“Business transparency has stagnated, with fewer businesses disclosing sales weighted data on health and sustainability than last year,” said The Food Foundation executive director, Anna Taylor.
“This negative trend is not being helped by the lack of leadership from government on food, and the fact there is still no agreed way of consistently measuring and reporting the nutrient content and carbon footprint of food.
“Government needs to build business confidence and signal its commitment to the healthy and sustainable diet agenda by making reporting of sales weighted data mandatory.”
