Annual report 2023/24

This year, we have been increasingly concerned that such a large number of fellow citizens are struggling to afford the costs of food, let alone a healthy diet. This is contributing to health inequalities and undermines our goal of an equitable food system. It also makes sustainable farming less economically viable. In this context, our work on the Bridging the Gap, Say Yes and Recipe for Change programmes are ever more relevant and promising.

Bridging the Gap seeks to demonstrate how climate- and nature-friendly food can be made affordable and accessible to people on lower incomes, piloting approaches that use vouchers, public procurement and other mechanisms to bridge the gap in price and make sustainable farming more attractive and profitable.

Recipe for Change builds on our alliance’s success in winning the landmark sugary drinks tax, seeking to extend this approach to products high in fat, salt or sugar, to ensure that food prices reflect the true cost of food and raise much-needed funds to pay for community food programmes, affordable sustainable food and health promotion.

Meanwhile, we were proud to see so many young people and parents joining the Children’s Food Campaign in taking the message to parliament that we must all Say Yes to School Food for All as a fundamental investment in young people, whilst the Mayor of London (with our support) and other local authorities across the country, continued to roll out free school meals for all primary school children.

The latter part of year was dominated by preparations for the forthcoming local elections and General Election, with Sustain colleagues and alliance members making strenuous efforts to get healthy, equitable and sustainable food and farming into party manifestos and local food strategy agendas. We ran or co-hosted several well-attended events at party conferences across the political spectrum, including sessions on public support and finances for sustainable farming, and how to prevent intensive and damaging livestock farming from proliferating through climate-friendly planning control. We also engaged with over 50 MPs at the Sustainable Food Places day of celebration and action in parliament.

Such game-changing initiatives set the scene for Sustain’s five-year strategy review that will commence during 2024. We will be asking Sustain alliance members for your views and hope this year’s impressive Annual Report will provide inspiration for what should be our shared priorities in the five-year period to 2030.