National Good Food Nation Plan: consultation

Part A: Consultation on the national Good Food Nation Plan

In collaboration with colleagues across the Scottish Government we have developed a set of six overarching Outcomes. These Outcomes are ambitious and not meant to be achieved within the first iteration of this plan. They are necessarily broad in nature as they are designed to be applicable to policies from across a wide range of areas.

The Outcomes serve as the high-level aspirations for a good food nation: they are not a list of detailed instructions.

They reflect that there is a continued need to adjust how food is produced, processed, distributed, and disposed of in Scotland to address the undeniable challenges of climate change and environmental degradation. This transition to a more sustainable food system also needs to be managed in a just and fair manner. This includes taking the people who work to put food on our tables along with us and demonstrating our commitment to continuous improvement in animal welfare. They also acknowledge that everyone deserves dignified access to good food and that our food system should create a healthy population.

The Outcomes represent what we would like a sustainable food system in Scotland to look like. The Outcomes link to other overarching policy frameworks such as the National Performance Framework and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The Outcomes also link to relevant international human rights instruments.

Question 1

Does each individual Good Food Nation Outcome describe the kind of Scottish food system you would like to see?

Outcome 1: Everyone in Scotland eats well with reliable access to safe, nutritious, affordable, sustainable, and age and culturally appropriate food.

Strongly agree

Mostly agree

Neither agree nor disagree

Mostly disagree

Strongly disagree

Outcome 2: Scotland’s food system is sustainable^[1] and contributes to a flourishing natural environment. It supports our net zero ambitions, and plays an important role in maintaining and improving animal welfare and in restoring and regenerating biodiversity.

Strongly agree

Mostly agree

Neither agree nor disagree

Mostly disagree

Strongly disagree

Outcome 3: Scotland’s food system encourages a physically and mentally healthy population, leading to a reduction in diet-related conditions.

Strongly agree

Mostly agree

Neither agree nor disagree

Mostly disagree

Strongly disagree

Outcome 4: Our food and drink sector is prosperous, diverse, innovative, and vital to national and local economic and social wellbeing. It is key to making Scotland food secure and food resilient, and creates and sustains jobs and businesses underpinned by fair work standards.

Strongly agree

Mostly agree

Neither agree nor disagree

Mostly disagree

Strongly disagree

Outcome 5: Scotland has a thriving food culture with a population who are interested in and educated about good and sustainable food.

Strongly agree

Mostly agree

Neither agree nor disagree

Mostly disagree

Strongly disagree

Outcome 6: Scotland has a global reputation for high-quality food that we want to continue to grow. Decisions we make in Scotland contribute positively to local and global food systems transformation. We share and learn from best practice internationally.

Strongly agree

Mostly agree

Neither agree nor disagree

Mostly disagree

Strongly disagree

Question 2

What, if anything, would you change about the Good Food Nation Outcomes and why?

Good Food Nation Measures

We need to know if we are making progress towards achieving the ambitious outcomes we have set ourselves. As such we have identified a set of indicators and targets that are already in existence and will demonstrate our progress towards the new outcomes.

We will develop further ways of measuring progress as our work on Good Food Nation continues and are interested in understanding what you think of the measures we have so far. Targets and indicators will continue to evolve during the life of the national Good Food Nation Plan and future iterations will contain updated indicators and targets.

A target is a goal that you are trying to achieve. A target often refers to something specific that needs to happen by a certain time. Targets are often set by governments to set measurable goals on specific topics.

An indicator is a way to measure something, often progress towards a target; set goal or outcome. Indicators can be useful to measure progress on a target or more general outcomes.

The table below sets out our existing indicators and other measures. We have been working to identify new targets or commitments that can be included in the Plan, these are:

Extend current diet and healthy weight commitments:

The Scottish Government has an existing target aiming to halve childhood obesity by 2030. We propose to extend this to:

• To aim to halve childhood obesity by 2030 and significantly reduce associated diet-related inequalities.

We will also widen the reach beyond children by committing to aim to:

• Increase levels of adult healthy weight
• Reduce adult diet-related health inequalities.

Strengthen household food insecurity commitments:

We propose to strengthen our household food insecurity commitments by aiming to:

• reduce the number of households facing moderate to severe food insecurity.
• reduce the reported number of households accessing emergency food provision

Public procurement

Further consideration will be given as to whether there are public procurement targets, taking account of the data and legislative restrictions, that could be developed for future iterations of the Plan.

Animal welfare

There is ongoing work to include a suite of animal welfare targets, informed by the findings of planned consultations, in future iterations of the national Good Food Nation Plan. There are currently Programme for Government commitments to consult on phasing out cages for gamebirds and laying hens.

Outcome

1. Everyone in Scotland eats well with reliable access to safe, nutritious, affordable, sustainable, and age and culturally appropriate food.

Indicators

• Proportion of households experiencing household food insecurity
• Number of pupils registered for free school meals
• Percentage of pupils present at school taking school meals (free or paid for)
• Number of day care settings and children registered to the Scottish Milk and Healthy Snack Scheme
• Proportion of children in Scotland living in: relative poverty; absolute poverty; combined low income and material deprivation, and; persistent poverty (after housing costs)
• Scottish Dietary Goals
• Proportion of public and private sector food businesses implementing the Eating Out, Eating Well framework and code of practice for children’s menus
• Number of local authorities that participate in the Food for Life Scotland Programme

Targets/other measures

• Fewer than 10% of children living in relative poverty by 2030
• Fewer than 5% of children living in absolute poverty by 2030
• Fewer than 5% of children living in combined low income and material deprivation by 2030
• Fewer than 5% of children living in persistent poverty by 2030
• Halve childhood obesity by 2030 and significantly reduce associated diet-related inequalities
• Reduce adult diet-related health inequalities
• Reduce the number of households facing moderate to severe food insecurity
• Reduce the reported number of households accessing emergency food provision

Outcome

2. Scotland’s food system is sustainable and contributes to a flourishing natural environment. It supports our net zero ambitions, and plays an important role in maintaining and improving animal welfare and in restoring and regenerating biodiversity.

Indicators

• Greenhouse gas emissions produced by the agriculture sector
• Use of nitrogen fertilisers
• Percentage of commercial stocks fished at sustainable levels
• Scottish Dietary Goals

Targets/other measures

• Reduce per capita food waste by 33% by 2025
• Aim to double the amount of farmland managed organically in Scotland by end of this parliamentary term (2026)
• Existing legally binding annual emissions reduction targets including: 75% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 (compared with a 1990 baseline), and net zero emissions by 2045
• Scottish Ministers have international commitments to address biodiversity loss, articulated in the Global Biodiversity Framework of the UN Convention on Biodiversity, which includes targets relating to reducing the global footprint of consumption, global food waste, overconsumption and waste generation
• The Scottish Government have made a #123 Food Loss and Waste Pledge for Climate Action

Outcome

3. Scotland’s food system encourages a physically and mentally healthy population, leading to a reduction in diet-related conditions.

Indicators

• Percentage of adults and children with a healthy weight
• Percentage of children at risk of obesity
• Percentage of adults and children consuming recommended 5 portions of fruit and vegetables each day
• Number of local authorities that participate in the Food for Life Scotland Programme
• Fruit and vegetable intake of children aged 2-15
• Scottish Dietary Goals
• Proportion of public and private sector food businesses implementing the Eating Out, Eating Well framework and code of practice for children’s menus
• Number of companies investing in reformulation

Targets/other measures

• Reduce drop off in breastfeeding rates at the 6 to 8 week point by 10% by 2025
• Halve childhood obesity by 2030 and significantly reduce associated diet-related inequalities
• Increase levels of adult healthy weight
• Reduce adult diet-related health inequalities

Outcome

4. Our food and drink sector is prosperous, diverse, innovative, and vital to national and local economic and social wellbeing. It is key to making Scotland food secure and food resilient, and creates and sustains jobs and businesses underpinned by fair work standards.

Indicators

• Number of people employed in the food and drink industry
• Number of people employed in agriculture
• Value of Scottish food and drink exports
• Value added by the Scottish food and drink industry
• Number of registered food and drink enterprises
• Number of registered crofts
• Median weekly full-time earnings across the Scottish food and drink growth sector
• Number of companies investing in reformulation

Targets/other measures

• The Scottish Government supports the food and drink sector by providing funding for Sustaining Scotland. Supplying the World – The Food and Drink Industry Strategy

Outcome

5. Scotland has a thriving food culture with a population who are interested in and educated about good and sustainable food.

Indicators

• Funding committed to food education and community food projects
• Scottish Dietary Goals
• Proportion of public and private sector food businesses implementing the Eating Out, Eating Well framework and code of practice for children’s menus

Targets/other measures

• Halve childhood obesity by 2030 and significantly reduce associated diet-related inequalities
• Increase levels of adult healthy weight
• Reduce adult diet-related health inequalities

Outcome

6. Scotland has a global reputation for high-quality food that we want to continue to grow. Decisions we make in Scotland contribute positively to local and global food systems transformation. We share and learn from best practice internationally.

Indicators

• Number of engagements with international colleagues on food system
• Greenhouse gas emissions produced by the agriculture sector

Targets/other measures

• Existing legally binding annual emissions reduction targets including: 75% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 (compared with a 1990 baseline), and net zero emissions by 2045
• Scottish Ministers have international commitments to address biodiversity loss, articulated in the Global Biodiversity Framework of the UN Convention on Biodiversity, which includes targets relating to reducing the global footprint of consumption, global food waste, overconsumption and waste generation
• The Scottish Government have made a #123 Food Loss and Waste Pledge for Climate Action

Question 3

Do you think that these targets will contribute to achieving the overall Good Food Nation Outcomes?

Strongly agree

Mostly agree

Neither agree nor disagree

Mostly disagree

Strongly disagree

I don’t know

Question 4

Would achieving these targets contribute to making the kind of Scottish food system you would like to see?

Strongly agree

Mostly agree

Neither agree nor disagree

Mostly disagree

Strongly disagree

I don’t know

Question 5

If you have other comments on the suggested Good Food Nation targets, please comment:

Question 6

Do you think these indicators will be useful for measuring progress towards the Good Food Nation Outcomes?

Strongly agree

Mostly agree

Neither agree nor disagree

Mostly disagree

Strongly disagree

I don’t know

Why or why not?

Question 7

What other indicators, if any, would you like to see included?

Question 8

If you have other comments on the suggested Good Food Nation indicators, please comment:

Life in a Good Food Nation

Part Three of the Good Food Nation Plan focuses on policies that are already underway and are moving us closer to a Good Food Nation. Text boxes across the chapter highlight what life will be like for different groups of people in a Good Food Nation. These groups were selected to reflect a broad range of roles across the food system but we cannot capture every role and experience. We would like to hear your views on these examples of what life in a Good Food Nation could look like for different groups. Please only respond if you have relevant experience of this group.

Question 9

Snapshot Box: As a child in a Good Food Nation

• I have access to healthy and nutritious food that is appropriate for my age and developmental stage
• Eating and enjoying a healthy diet is the norm for me
• I have the opportunity to participate in a variety of food-related educational experiences on a regular basis
• I will never experience hunger

Does this reflect what you think life should look like for a child in Scotland as a Good Food Nation?

Strongly agree

Mostly agree

Neither agree nor disagree

Mostly disagree

Strongly disagree

Not applicable

What changes, if any, would you make?

Question 10

Snapshot Box: As a parent/carer in a Good Food Nation

• I am knowledgeable about how to prepare healthy and nutritious meals for those in my care and empowered to do so
• I know where to go for support should I experience difficulties that prevent me from purchasing food or preparing hot food at home
• I am confident that childcare settings and schools are providing healthy, nutritious and culturally appropriate food and that they are educating children about the food system
• If I am pregnant I know where to go for support and can make fully informed choices on how to feed myself and my baby

Does this reflect what you would like your life to look like, as a parent/carer in a Good Food Nation?

Strongly agree

Mostly agree

Neither agree nor disagree

Mostly disagree

Strongly disagree

Not applicable

What changes, if any, would you make?

Question 11

Snapshot Box: As an adult in a Good Food Nation

• I can easily access food that I enjoy and that keeps me healthy and well
• I know where to go if I experience financial difficulties, and the response is fast, coordinated and meets my needs with dignity and respect
• Healthy and sustainable options are easy to find wherever I eat and buy food
• I can easily access information about the environmental, social, and nutritional impacts of my food and its provenance that helps me to make informed decisions

Does this reflect what you would like your life to look like, as an adult in a Good Food Nation?

Strongly agree

Mostly agree

Neither agree nor disagree

Mostly disagree

Strongly disagree

Not applicable

What changes, if any, would you make?

Question 12

Snapshot Box: As a public caterer in a Good Food Nation

• I procure healthy, fresh, in-season, and nutritious food to meet the needs of the people using my services
• I recognise the role that food can play in strengthening community ties. I promote and provide healthy, enjoyable, and sustainable options as the norm on my menus
• My procurement choices help to support a variety of producers
• I have reduced avoidable food waste as much as possible, and I ensure that unavoidable food waste is disposed of in a sustainable manner

Does this reflect what you would like your life to look like, as a public caterer in a Good Food Nation?

Strongly agree

Mostly agree

Neither agree nor disagree

Mostly disagree

Strongly disagree

Not applicable

What changes, if any, would you make?

Question 13

Snapshot Box: As a retailer in a Good Food Nation

• As an employer, I meet Fair Work First criteria. I ensure that all procurement contracts I enter into are fair and equitable for producers
• I create a store environment that makes healthy and nutritious options affordable and appealing for everyone. I help consumers to better understand the nutritional quality and provenance of the food I sell
• Decisions I make in store and through procurement help Scotland to achieve its net zero ambitions, for example by minimising food waste.
• I play an important role in supporting a stronger local food economy and increasing food security in Scotland

Does this reflect what you would like your life to look like, as a retailer in a Good Food Nation?

Strongly agree

Mostly agree

Neither agree nor disagree

Mostly disagree

Strongly disagree

Not applicable

What changes, if any, would you make?

Question 14

Snapshot Box: As a restaurant owner in a Good Food Nation

• I celebrate fresh, seasonal produce and integrate it into my menu. I have an active role in supporting my local food economy
• I share my passion for good food with my customers so that they become more informed about its provenance, how it’s prepared and its nutritional value
• As an employer, I meet Fair Work First criteria. I create a rewarding work environment for my employees
• I am creative with my menu. This can help me to minimise food waste for the benefit of my business, people, and the environment

Does this reflect what you would like your life to look like, as a restaurant owner in a Good Food Nation?

Strongly agree

Mostly agree

Neither agree nor disagree

Mostly disagree

Strongly disagree

Not applicable

What changes, if any, would you make?

Question 15

Snapshot Box: As a farmer/crofter in a Good Food Nation

• I feel that my work is respected and that I am able to get a fair price for my produce. I can easily sell my produce locally should I wish to do so
• My farming and land management practices reduce my environmental impact, increase biodiversity and ensure high animal welfare standards on my farm or croft
• I benefit from a variety of support, including training and advice, to help me run a successful and sustainable farm or croft
• I help to build resilient supply chains and contribute to food security in Scotland

Does this reflect what you would like your life to look like, as a farmer/crofter in a Good Food Nation?

Strongly agree

Mostly agree

Neither agree nor disagree

Mostly disagree

Strongly disagree

Not applicable

What changes, if any, would you make?

Question 16

Snapshot Box: As a fisher in a Good Food Nation

• I feel that my work is respected and that I am able to get a fair price for my catch
• I support the marine environment and ecosystem with sustainable fishing practices
• I benefit from and enable a fair and safe working environment
• I seek opportunities to bring my product to a wider market in Scotland, and to promote its contribution to a healthy diet
• I can access a variety of support to help me to run a sustainable fishing business

Does this reflect what you would like your life to look like, as a fisher in a Good Food Nation?

Strongly agree

Mostly agree

Neither agree nor disagree

Mostly disagree

Strongly disagree

Not applicable

What changes, if any, would you make?

Question 17

Snapshot Box: As a food processor in a Good Food Nation

• I work with producers, wholesalers, retailers and out of home food providers to ensure resilience along the whole supply chain while meeting demand and minimising waste
• I make my products healthier and more sustainable, using fresh, seasonal ingredients where possible, and can access support to do this.
• I invest in and develop my workforce, ensuring they can enjoy opportunities to enhance their skills whilst benefiting from a safe working environment
• I contribute to the important role that the food and drink sector has in Scotland’s economy

Does this reflect what you would like your life to look like, as a food processor in a Good Food Nation?

Strongly agree

Mostly agree

Neither agree nor disagree

Mostly disagree

Strongly disagree

Not applicable

What changes, if any, would you make?

Question 18

If you have any further comments on the national Good Food Nation Plan, please comment here