The Shift to Healthy, Sustainable Diets Must Come from the Top Down

A group of top scientists from across Europe have advised the European Commission on how to transform European diets to become healthier and more sustainable, in response to a request from the College of Commissioners to the Scientific Advice Mechanism to inform the revision of the Farm to Fork strategy. 

Following research, the advice from SAPEA (Scientific Advice for Policy by European Academies) concluded that, to ensure that sustainable, healthy food is an easy and affordable choice, policy-makers must focus on addressing the whole food environment, rather than placing the onus on the consumer.

“In order for Europe to achieve its health and sustainability goals, the way we produce, distribute and consume food must change, and this cannot be left entirely up to the consumer,” said Professor Eric Lambin, member of the Group of Chief Scientific Advisors to the European Commission.  

Professor Erik Mathijs, the chair of the SAPEA working group that reviewed the scientific evidence to inform these recommendations, said, “Policies should address the whole food environment, anywhere where food is obtained, eaten and discussed, such as shops, restaurants, homes, schools and workplaces, and increasingly also digital media.”

The advice included a range of evidence-based recommendations for promoting healthy and sustainable food choices, including: 

• Pricing: Evidence shows that direct measures are effective, including taxes on sugar and meat, as well as pricing products according to their environmental impacts. Taxes on healthy and sustainable alternatives should be lowered.  
• Availability and visibility: Healthy and sustainable food options are more frequently chosen if they are displayed in prominent places. The report recommends new restrictions around advertising foods which are unhealthy or unsustainable if consumed regularly, noting that voluntary codes of conduct in this area have not been effective.  
• Composition: Measures for reducing unhealthy fat, sugar and salt content, and adding more plant-based alternatives are only effective when mandatory and comprehensive. 

Our current food system has a major impact on the environment, and poor quality diets are also linked to risk of disease, obesity and overweight — which affects around 60% of adults and 30% of children in European countries. 

These issues make it clear that we need a dramatic shift in how we eat, and we need it quickly. Until now, EU policy has largely focused on providing consumers with more information, but it’s clear that this is not enough. People choose food through a wealth of factors, many of which are not based in rational reflections, and some of which – like income levels – currently serve to narrow their available options and take much healthy, sustainable food off the proverbial table.

Policymakers, government bodies and industry all need to find ways to unburden the consumer and make sustainable, healthy food an easy and affordable choice. As one of the biggest players in the “whole food environment,” hospitality has a considerable role to play.  

Learn how the Food Made Good Standard works to make healthy and sustainable food a priority for hospitality businesses across the world: 

Learn about the FMG Standard