Food insecurity and sustainability inquiry call for evidence published

• Call for evidence
• Send a written submission
• Select Committee on Food, Poverty, Health and the Environment

Background

Healthy life expectancy is nearly twenty years shorter in the lowest income groups than in the highest. Our diets are a key part of this. The Committee will consider how a healthier and more environmentally sustainable diet can be made accessible to everyone and what changes to food policy, the industry and existing measures can achieve this. 

Today's call is for evidence on the roles food and poverty play in producing health inequalities, and the links between our health, our diets, and the sustainability of our food systems. Ultimately, the Committee will wish to recommend changes to Government policy to remedy the situation.

The inquiry

Among the issues the inquiry will examine are:

• Causes of food insecurity and its impact on public health
• The barriers that prevent people from accessing healthy food and eating a health diet
• The impact of food industry practices (including product formulation, portion size, packaging and labelling) on consumers dietary choices 
• Whether efforts to improve food production sustainability could offer solutions to improving food insecurity and dietary health in the UK

Committee Chairman

Chair of the Committee Lord Krebs said:

"With healthy foods three times more expensive than unhealthy foods, people on low incomes are struggling to afford to eat well and levels of obesity and weight-related diseases are rising. The UK has the highest proportion of people worried about having enough to eat of all European countries. At the same time, the environmental footprint of our agriculture and food industries must be reduced if we are to meet our net zero emissions target.

Our call for evidence, published today, focuses on these issues. We hope that anyone with an interest in food, social or environmental issues will answer the call and help us to get to the bottom of how to make a healthy, sustainable diet accessible to everyone."

Make sure to follow our Twitter page @LordsFoodCom coming soon

Further Information

• About Parliament: Select committees
• Visiting Parliament Watch committees

Image: PA