The Food Foundation have published a new report: MEAT FACTS – What meat is the UK eating and why does it matter?
The report investigates the UK’s meat-eating habits, highlighting meat’s health and environmental impacts and advocating for a shift towards more plant-rich diets.
The Food Foundation’s research suggests that the UK eats as twice as much meat as the global average, and children are eating more processed meats than adults.
It found the following in relation to children’s eating:
- Children eat proportionally more processed meat than adults – with over a third (36%) of meat eaten by children coming from processed meat.
- Sausages and ham (classified by the World Health Organisation as a Group 1 carcinogens), are the most common meats consumed in schools and educational settings.
- Pizza with meat toppings is the third most eaten type of dish containing any amount of meat eaten by children.
The Food Foundation have called for businesses to ‘make beans and whole plant foods more appealing.’ And for the school food standards to be updated, relaxing the requirement for schools to serve meat three days a week, and limiting the amount of processed meat being served to children.
On the findings, Colette Fox, Public Food Lead at ProVeg, said, “Shifting towards plant-rich foods is essential for people and the planet. We’re pleased to see the calls for the government to update school food standards to reflect the latest research on meat consumption, and to reduce processed meat on school plates. We also support the Food Foundation’s recommendation to make beans and whole plant foods more appealing. The power of beans to fuel and nourish, packed with protein and fibre, and low in saturated fat, should be celebrated and championed. We look forward to the government taking the steps to put health and sustainability at the top of the food agenda and pushing for more plants on plates nationwide.”
For the health of both people and the planet, we’re eager to see more plant-rich alternatives featured on school menus. Want to know how this can be achieved with simple steps and small changes? Take a look at our School Plates programme.
Read the full report from The Food Foundation here.
