Vegan school meals on the menu under Boris Johnson’s ‘grow for Britain’ strategy

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Prime Minister will make plant-based eating an option for students as part of the Government’s drive to improve food security



Boris Johnson is to announce the first review of the UK’s food strategy in 75 years as he seeks to tackle food security and the cost of living.

Officials have been working on the report, which has been delayed twice, since the publication of an independent review by Henry Dimbleby, the founder of Leon, last July.

A leaked draft seen by The Telegraph sets out plans to increase the productivity of UK farms, offer vegan meals to school students and prisoners, and tackle shortages of migrant workers.

Mr Johnson is expected to announce the “grow for Britain” strategy on a visit to the southwest of England on Monday.
Vegan school meal drive

All pupils will be given a vegan school dinner option, under plans to reform public sector meals contained in the strategy seen by the Telegraph.

Prisoners, hospital patients and workers in government buildings will also be given the option under the proposals, which are designed to encourage low-carbon meals.

“We would like public sector menus to make it as easy as possible for people to make sustainable choices,” reads the consultation document seen by The Telegraph.

“Evidence shows that plant-based food products are generally less carbon-intensive to produce than livestock products.

“There is good evidence to show that changing food environments and providing more vegetarian options can encourage individuals to make more sustainable food choices.

“Furthermore, increasing consumer choice of vegetarian and vegan options would reflect the rising trend of flexitarianism, vegetarianism and veganism in the UK.”

[dutchman]

This sounds more like one of CARRIE Johnson's plans?

[dutchman]

'Bordering on preposterous': Government food strategy tells public to eat venison instead of beef to save planet



A leaked version of the government's new food strategy advises people to eat wild venison as a low-carbon alternative to beef and grow their own cucumbers to save the planet, reports claim.

The 27-page document, due to be officially released on Monday, follows two reports carried out by the co-founder of restaurant chain Leon, Henry Dimbleby, into the UK's food system.

His probes into obesity and the environment, commissioned by former environment minister Michael Gove, resulted in recommendations to expand free school meals, impose a long-campaigned for salt and sugar tax, and introduce GP prescriptions for fruit and veg.

But according to a version of the strategy, seen by The Guardian and The Telegraph, these proposals have been ignored in favour of "a statement of vague intentions" - Rob Percival, head of food policy at the Soil Association, said.

They include encouraging fish farming, long seen as highly damaging for the environment, increasing consumption of "responsibly sourced venison", food from algae proteins, and producing technology to help cattle produce less methane.

Compulsory vegan meal options in schools, prisons and across the public sector also feature alongside animal welfare warnings on restaurant menus - if premises use factory-farmed meat.

While a cost of living crisis grips the UK, with recent ONS data revealing most Britons are cutting down on food and other essentials, the government says the cost of food "isn't the business of government food strategy".

Mr Percival told Sky News: "They're letting a cost of living crisis go unaddressed, they're allowing unsustainable diets to continue, and they're exacerbating the ecological crisis."

He described the references to wild venison as "a little peculiar" and heavily criticised the government's position on not intervening in people's diets and failing to expand the free school meals programme.

Jim McMahon, Labour's shadow secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, responded: "The UK is in a cost-of-living crisis with food prices spiralling, real-wages falling, growth plummeting and taxes up.

"It is clear now that the government has absolutely no ambition to fix the mess they have created.

"This is nothing more than a statement of vague intentions, not the concrete proposals to tackle the major issues facing our country. To call it a 'food strategy' is bordering on the preposterous."