England
Below are a number of key documents and initiatives on food and and health relevant to those working in England.
Choosing a Better Diet: A Food and Health Action Plan.
This document sets out the Government's plan to encourage and co-ordinate the actions of a wide range of organisations to improve nutrition and health in England.
The paper summarises how the Government will develop the commitments on nutrition presented in the Public Health White Paper; Choosing Health: Making healthier choices easier. It includes action on:
- Advertising and promotion of foods to children.
- Simplified food labelling.
- Obesity education and prevention.
- Nutritional standards in schools, hospitals and the workplace.
Choosing a better diet. - ChoosingBetterDiet.pdf*
Nutritional Standards for School Lunches & Other School Food.
On 19th May 2006 Education Secretary Alan Johnson published new minimum nutrition standards for school food to ensure healthier eating throughout the school day, banning meals high in salt, fat and sugar or containing low quality meat from lunchtime meals.
In line with the recommendations of the School Meals Review Panel, from September food based standards will ensure that:
- School lunches are free from low quality meat products, fizzy drinks, crisps, chocolate or other confectionery.
- High quality meat, poultry or oily fish is available on a regular basis.
- Pupils are served a minimum of two portions of fruit and vegetables with every meal.
- Any deep-fried items are restricted to no more than two portions a week.
As schools also end the sale of junk food in vending machines and tuck shops (including confectionery, crisps, chocolate and fizzy drinks) the School Food Trust will work with schools and the vending providers to promote sales of healthy snacks and drinks such as water, milk, fruit juices and yoghurt drinks.
Schools will be required to raise the bar further with even more stringent nutrient-based standards - stipulating the essential nutrients, vitamins and minerals for school meals - introduced in Primary Schools by September 2008 and Secondary Schools by September 2009.
Nutritional Standards for School Lunches - Nutritional Standards for School Lunches and other School Food.pdf*
Healthy Start
Healthy Start replaces the Welfare Food Scheme during 2005-6.
The new scheme:
- Includes fresh fruit and vegetables as well as milk and infant formula milk.
- Supports breastfeeding.
- Encourages earlier and closer contact between health professionals and families from disadvantaged groups.
For more information click here.
Healthy Start - HealthyStartandWFSupdate-England-June2006.pdf*
Food Poverty Project
The Food Poverty Project is working to eradicate diet-related ill health amongst the UK's most disadvantaged communities. By tackling the underlying causes of food poverty, it aims to ensure that everyone in the UK has access to healthy, sustainable and affordable food.
The Food Poverty Project co-ordinates and supports England's only network of community food projects working to improve the nutrition, health and wellbeing of their local communities. The Food Poverty Network currently consists of some 300 food projects working with disadvantaged communities across the UK. Along with providing vital support to these projects through, for example, a quarterly newsletter, publications, information, events, and the Food Poverty database, the Food Poverty Project is also working to empower those at the sharp end of food poverty to communicate better with decision-makers to achieve justice for themselves.
The Food Poverty Project is part of Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming. Sustain represents around 100 national public interest organisations working at international, national, regional and local levels. For more information click here
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