The recent European Commission proposal to allow Member States to decide on the level of cultivation of approved crops on their soil has paved the way for more genetically modified food in Europe, but few believe that the potential for increased yields will provide a complete solution.
Recent nutrition policy has been driven by concerns about saturated fat and salt, chronic disease and energy balance, and this has inevitably impacted on the food industry. In this scenario it is easy to overlook essential vitamins and minerals. Many in the UK have inadequate intakes of some of these and, importantly, the foods in the spotlight in the sustainable diets debate milk, meat and fish are key sources of a number of these nutrients. Knee-jerk changes to our diet could prove counterproductive.
Later this year, a white paper is expected to set out a new public health strategy. A promised feature of its delivery is the Responsibility Deal: a concept heralded to bring together government, business and charities to promote innovation in thinking and practice, built on social responsibility rather than State regulation.
BNF's Food a fact of life education program is a successful public, private, charity sector partnership. It began with government funding in the 1980s and has since been co-funded through BNF's charitable work, project grants from the food sector and other charities, such as The All Saints Educational Trust.
BNF looks forward to opportunities to build on this successful approach.
Professor Judy Buttriss is director general of the British Nutrition Foundation