Food Systems experts from the N8 universities have contributed to a unique response to the National Food Strategy – advising Government how to implement key policy measures to ensure a healthy and sustainable food system in England.
Food Systems experts from the N8 Universities have contributed to a unique response to the National Food Strategy – advising Government how to implement key policy measures to ensure a healthy and sustainable food system in England.
The report from the N8 AgriFood Food Systems Policy Hub brings together expertise from the eight most research-intensive universities in the North of England, matching relevant experts in their field to each of the 14 recommendations made in the National Food Strategy’s final report.
Written by Henry Dimbleby, and published this summer, the National Food Strategy was the first independent review of England’s entire food system in 75 years. It aimed to lay out measures for transforming the food system we have today into something better for the future, with a focus on health, the environment, agriculture, resilience and sustainability and the economy.
The Food Systems Policy Hub’s Response document will now be delivered to the white paper team working within Defra, who have been tasked with co-ordinating the official Government response to the National Food Strategy. The Response will also be presented to the National Food Strategy All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), overseen by The Food Foundation.
Within the Response experts from across the N8 Research Partnership have backed important calls for action made in the National Food Strategy, as well as highlighting several key factors missing from the strategy, and suggesting best practice for introducing policy to support the 14 Recommendations made by the National Food Strategy team.
It is the first independent response to the National Food Strategy to combine analysis from multiple institutions, with the Food Systems Policy Hub seeking to ensure a full food systems approach is given to any Government action arising from the National Food Strategy’s recommendations.
The N8 AgriFood Food Systems Policy Hub was a spin out from the N8 AgriFood Project. The Food Systems Policy Hub works to translate research and expert knowledge from across N8 AgriFood into policy impact, supporting a food systems approach to food related policy at regional, national and international levels within governments, the private sector, charities and NGOs.