Food Security programme advises eating less meat

Published 03/06/2015

We welcome the publication of the principles of healthy and sustainable eating patterns.

The 8 principles of healthy and sustainable eating patterns, as described in the report, are as follows:

1. Eat a varied, balanced diet to maintain a healthy body weight.
2. Eat more plant based foods, including at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day.
3. Value your food. Ask about where it comes from and how it is produced. Don’t waste it.
4. Choose fish sourced from sustainable stocks, taking seasonality and capture methods into consideration.
5. Moderate your meat consumption, and enjoy more peas, beans and pulses, tofu, nuts, and other plant sources of protein.
6. Include milk and dairy products in your diet and/or seek out plant based alternatives, including those that are fortified with additional vitamins and minerals.
7. Drink tap water.
8. Eat fewer foods high in fat, sugar and salt.

Our Ambassador, Joyce D’ Silva, said: “This report shows that we must change the way we eat. It’s clear that we have to eat less meat both for our own health and for the planet. Conscientious consumers will do this and will only choose higher welfare animal products. Now the UK government must take action to implement these principles of a healthy, sustainable diet.”

The principles were first developed in 2013 by a working group of the DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) convened Green Food Project. The principles have now been peer reviewed and published by the cross-government Global Food Security Programme.

Find out more

You can read the full report here.