Delivering a Double Dividend: Better nutrition for more sustainable diets
The food we eat is - according to the latest research from Europe - responsible for 31% of our impact on climate change.
Where better to start getting used to a more sustainable diet than at school? Thanks to the spotlight shone by Jamie Oliver’s Feed Me Better campaign, parents everywhere are now calling for school meals to set a better example for kids.
In this report, written and researched by the Soil Association and Cardiff University, we show that sustainable consumption and better nutrition can and should go hand in hand. Seasonal produce, better quality meat in lower quantities, and a shift from white to oily fish are all changes that are desirable from a nutritional and a sustainability perspective. And there are surely few more enjoyable and effective ways of responding to climate change than by reconnecting our national diet to the flow of seasons.
The Sustainable Consumption Roundtable calls on Defra and the new School Food Trust to work closely with the Audit Commission to give local authorities and schools the confidence they need that they will be rewarded, and not penalised, for serving up seasonal, sustainable, quality meals, rather than the least cost option.
The Sustainable Consumption Roundtable - a partnership project between the National Consumer Council and the Sustainable Development Commission - was set up by the Secretaries of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Trade and Industry to advise on practical policies the Government should adopt to help people to build sustainable lifestyles. We will report in full in March 2006.
» Double Dividend Report (PDF)
» Find out more about the work of the Sustainable Consumption Roundtable
