Diet can save lives and the countryside
PEOPLE should eat less sugar, salt and meat – to save lives as well as protect the NHS and the environment, says a landmark review.
The National Food Strategy report, released today, puts forward a raft of recommendations to help people escape the junk food cycle, make the best use of land and shift Britain’s food culture.
It says poor diets contribute to 64,000 deaths a year in England alone, costing the economy £74billion.
Report author Henry Dimbleby said: “The way we produce food is doing terrible damage to the environment and to our bodies, and putting an intolerable strain on the NHS. Covid-19 has been a painful reality check.
“Our high obesity rate is a major factor in the UK’s high death rate. We must seize the moment to build a better food system for our children and grandchildren.”
The report sets out how our diets will need to change
FOOD inglorious food. Our diets are killing us and the world we live in. Processed food and the factory farming of animals are the twin problems.
In Britain we raise and kill one billion animals a year in factory farms. Animal products are driving a human health crisis – chronic illnesses such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes are linked to eating meat and dairy.
It’s not good for the planet either – it’s one of the big three drivers of the climate crisis.
It’s reversible though. If we stop eating factory-farmed animals we could free up 75 per cent of all farm land in our in the next 10 years to meet the Government’s targets on health, climate and nature.
By 2032, fruit and vegetable consumption will have to increase by 30 per cent and fibre by half, while diets of food high in saturated fat, salt and sugar need to fall by a quarter, and meat consumption by 30 per cent.
The independent report, commissioned by the government in 2019, also calls for the introduction of the world’s first Sugar and Salt Reformulation Tax. Environment Secretary George Eustice said: “This Government will carefully consider its conclusions and respond with aWhite Paper within six months, setting out our priorities for the food system.” country. Processed food is the other villain.
Its three staple ingredients of salt, sugar and fat are used in poisonous quantities, because they create food addiction. It should be illegal.
We need government intervention, to protect us from the food industry.
They are poisoning us and the planet.