Everyone has a right to healthy and affordable food. Good food for all means ensuring that people experiencing financial crisis or food poverty can access and afford a healthy diet. It means improving food in schools, hospitals and meals on wheels, and in a way that is ‘more than a meal’; good food should be integrated into education, social services and institutional policies. Sustain also works to combat excessive pressure from the advertising and marketing of unhealthy foods and drinks that contribute to poor health.
Sustain believes healthy, sustainable diets should be accessible and affordable to all. We want to see this principle upheld in law through the Right to Food, as well as in standards and institutional policies. These would help trigger action, accountability and sufficient resources to overcome the barriers to change.
Currently, 8.4 million people in the UK struggle to get enough to eat. People experiencing food poverty need adequate incomes, and we all need healthier food environments where good food is easily accessible and affordable, and which meets diverse cultural and nutritional needs.
Public sector institutions serve people who need nutritious and delicious food the most – nurseries, schools, hospitals, care settings and social services such as meals on wheels. This should be ‘more than a meal’, integrating good food education for children and welfare checks for those who would benefit.
Achieving such ambitions requires a food system that tips the balance back towards fresh, healthy and sustainably produced food. We need policies that reduce the pressure of unhealthy food advertising and marketing; for example, the sugary drinks tax now raises millions of pounds to invest in children’s health promotion. We also need policies that actively favour good food – for example, school and hospital food standards as well as national campaigns to encourage food producers to serve us more healthy fruit and veg.
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What we're fighting for today
Healthy and nutritious food in schools and children’s settings, including free school meals, holiday provision with food and Healthy Start or Best Start vouchers.
Healthy, organic fruit and veg to be accessible to people on low incomes living in cities.
Advertising policies that switch the spotlight away from unhealthy foods.
Industry levy to build on the success of the Soft Drinks Industry Levy.
Action to address the root causes of food poverty and build community food resilience.
Our campaigns
The Children’s Food campaign secured some of the strongest legislation in the world to protect children from junk food advertising on television, resulting in a 37% reduction in advertisements aimed at children for products high in fat, salt and sugar, and further restrictions in non-broadcast media since 2017. They also worked with the Food Poverty team to secure over £500 million in support from Government during the Covid-19 crisis, including the extension of free school meals.
Sustain helped secure the first school food standards, and has been championing increased access and eligibility to free school meals, most recently through our Say Yes! campaign.
Bridging the Gap, launched in 2022, aims to make climate and nature friendly food available to everyone by demonstrating ways to build better supply chains for fairer, long term access.
Commercial determinants supported new TfL advertising policy which led to households consuming 1000 calories less a week.
Recipe for Change campaign is calling for an industry levy like SDIL to help make food healthier.
