The government is planning to roll out pilots with supermarkets and suppliers to tackle soaring obesity levels in towns which have become “food deserts”.
A series of interventions, including healthy sales reporting that encompasses the out-of-home sector, is being lined up in a bid to focus its food strategy on areas with the highest levels of obesity.
Minister for food security Angela Eagle, who has taken over spearheading the food strategy after the departure of Daniel Zeichner, is believed to see the targeting of some of the poorest areas of the country as a way to breathe new life into the public health initiative, without having to wait years for plans such as UK-wide mandatory reporting to take off.
Chief medical officer Chris Whitty is said to be a driving force behind the strategy, having urged the government to adopt an approach targeted at the most deprived areas of the UK, which have comparatively much higher levels of obesity than their wealthier neighbours.
Whitty, who is among advisers on the Food Strategy Advisory Board (FSAB) to have discussed the idea with Eagle, told the IGD conference in October the government’s response to tackling health inequalities had been “achingly middle-class” and that it needed to be much more focused on the poorest areas of the country, with a clear correlation between obesity, poverty and life outcomes
The Food Foundation, whose executive director Anna Taylor is also on the board, is another body calling for further intervention, releasing figures in October showing one in 10 households are affected by food poverty.
Healthy food pilots in the poorest areas
The government has told the FSAB it wants to work alongside the food industry on pilots including boosting the supply and quality of healthy food in the most deprived areas. These are set to include enhanced data-sharing and other joint action with government to help to overcome current barriers, with Eagle wanting the industry to “move quickly on practical solutions”.
A source close to the discussions told The Grocer: “Chris Whitty in particular has been pressing on this issue.
“The idea is that these pilots could go from a test, which would be able to trial ideas such as health reporting before it is rolled out nationally, requiring legislation through parliament.
“The idea is for these to be trialled in areas that have become known as food deserts because of the lack of access to affordable food and comparatively high levels of unhealthy food.
“One of the keys to it is that it would include both in-home and out-of-home operators to provide a level playing field of intervention.”
In a recent House of Commons debate, Eagle told MPs she was determined to tackle the issue of food inequality in her new role.
“We have a food strategy that talks about how we can improve food price affordability and access to highly nutritious food,” she said.
“We are committed to making the healthy choice the easier choice.”
Shona Goudie, policy and advocacy manager at the Food Foundation, said: “Food insecurity in the UK is a political choice, not an inevitability.
“The government must demonstrate its commitment to tackling this issue by setting clear targets to protect people from food insecurity and building national resilience. “
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