Boris Johnson’s new food strategy was condemned as “bordering on the absurd” after a leak suggested he would reject key recommendations from an independent review, but would urge people to eat more venison.
Calls for more free school meals and a tax on sugar and salt appear to have been ignored, the draft said.
Instead, there will be advice on how to help cows produce less methane and a proposed increase in the use of “responsibly harvested wild venison”.
Restaurant co-founder Leon Henry Dimbleby was asked by the government in 2019 to review the British food system to ensure that it is “safe, healthy and accessible” to all.
His final report, published in 2021, called for a tax to reformulate sugar and salt as a key way to transform the diets of millions and help protect the environment.
But this appears to have been rejected by ministers, according to an expired draft of the White Paper on the government’s new food strategy, which is expected to be released on Monday.
In his report, Mr Dimbleby also called for part of the money raised from the fee to be used to expand free school meals, as well as to fund holiday clubs to feed and feed families in need.
But despite calls from teachers and unions to expand free school meals to an additional 1 million children in poverty, it said the idea would be “kept under control”.
Ministers seem to be moving on some of Mr Dimbleby’s proposals, including a consultation on the possibility of mandatory reporting of food waste for businesses above a certain amount.
After the review called on the government to “encourage” consumers to change their meat habits, the document also said ministers would “support progress on a wide range of issues, including alternative proteins”.
Contradictory, due to their impact on the environment, this also suggests a potential increase in fish farming.
Mr Johnson has recently been criticized, including by former Tory ministers, for his decision to postpone measures to tackle obesity, a move blamed on the cost of living crisis.
At the same time, critics say he has done little to help families face what even the governor of the Bank of England has suggested could turn into an “apocalyptic” rise in food prices.
The document says it looks at “longer-term measures” rather than “duplicating work on the cost of living”.
Instead of accepting Dimbleby’s warning that “our current appetite for meat is unsustainable,” the government will launch a consultation on new technologies to help livestock produce less methane.
However, ministers will make it easier for countries to trade with the United Kingdom if they have strong animal welfare legislation.
Labor said the document was “nothing more than a statement of vague intent”.
Shadow Environment Secretary Jim McMahon said: “The food strategy is vital, but the government is hesitant, slowing down and now failing to implement it.
“This is nothing more than a statement of unclear intentions, and not concrete proposals to address the main problems facing our country. To call it a “food strategy” borders on the absurd. “
Greenpeace described the plan as “worse than half-baked”.
The Ministry of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said it had not commented on leaked documents.
A spokesman added: “We will present the content of our ambitious new food strategy in a timely manner.
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