Reuters says that Britain must change what it eats and the way it produces food to stop “terrible damage” to people’s health and the environment. A government commissioned report said this on Thursday, urging meals with more vegetables and fruit and less fat, sugar and salt.
Seeking to curb widespread obesity and protect the National Health Service (NHS), the National Food Strategy’s independent report calls for the introduction of a sugar and salt reformulation tax, with the revenue used to expand free school meals and support the diets of those living in deprived parts of Britain.
It said current eating habits are destroying the environment, which in turn threatens Britain’s food security.
“The way we produce food is doing terrible damage to the environment and to our bodies, and putting an intolerable strain on the National Health Service,” said the report’s author Henry Dimbleby.
“Covid-19 has been a painful reality check. Our high obesity rate has been a major factor in the UK’s tragically high death rate. We must now seize the moment to build a better food system for our children and grandchildren.”
Britain has suffered the world’s seventh highest death toll from COVID-19, with over 128,000 fatalities.
