Sustainable dietary choices
The global food system is responsible for 25-30% of Greenhouse gas emissions (GHGe), contributing to climate change, deforestation, water scarcity and biodiversity loss1,2,3. Of this, agriculture is responsible for around 40% of GHGe1. As we have industrialised our food system, we have also reduced the diversity within our diets and now just 5 animals and 12 crops make up over 75% of our edible calories globally4.
To continue to feed more and more people – almost 10 billion by 2050 – we will need to evolve our food system to produce food within our planetary boundaries5 and make dietary shifts which will have significant impacts on climate change2.
Work conducted by Scheelbeek et al (2020) among others6,7, has shown that shifting from our current dietary intakes in the UK towards the Eatwell Guide, would help to achieve this change. This, in turn, will support businesses to better deliver on the demand-driven aspects of their scope 3 commitments, whilst also benefitting population health outcomes that are attributed to diet (one of the biggest causes of premature death in the UK8).
But we recognise this will be a big change, as today, <1% of the UK population is achieving a diet in line with the Eatwell Guide9.
In addition to encouraging plant-rich choices to help better balance the diet, we are currently developing our protein diversification strategy. This will focus on 4 priority areas:
1. Product innovation
2. Sustainable Sourcing
3. Category mix
4. Sector action e.g. to support better product level data on sustainability metrics and consistent definitions and disclosures to support ‘better’ sales.
WWF Basket partnership
We are signatories of the WWF retailer basket which aims to halve the environmental impact of the basket by 2030. Together with other UK retailers, we report progress annually on a series of metrics that reflect our efforts to help improve the balance of the basket to be more in line with dietary recommendations for health.
Tracking progress
We report our progress towards the WWF retailer basket ambitions annually on our ‘tracking progress’ pages here.
*Results from our 2024 WWF Basket report
Partnerships: key suppliers
We have had long-standing relationships with many of our suppliers. For example, the Sainsbury’s Dairy Development Board brings together milk producers and has focused collectively on key issues such as animal welfare through early detection methods for calf health supported by farmer bonuses. This has existed for over 10 years.
More information on how we work with key suppliers can be found here.
Partnerships: driving sector progress
We recognise that a big part of our ability to take action will depend on better product level data on both the healthiness and sustainability of our products. At present, we have good data on the healthiness of our products and category-average data on the emissions of key raw materials.
We are therefore involved in the following projects which all seek to help unlock better product level data and disclosures on eco metrics for the sector:
Further information on our partnerships and sector priorities can be found on pages 29 and 31 of our 23/24 Sustainability Report.
References:
1. Nation Food Strategy. The National Food Strategy. 2021 (online). Available at: The National Food Strategy - The Plan. [Accessed June 2024].
2. WWF. Eating For Net Zero: How Diet Shift Can Enable A Nature Positive Net Zero Transition In The UK. 2023 (online) Available at: Eating for Net Zero (wwf.org.uk). [Accessed June 2024].
3. World Resources Institute. Creating a Sustainable Food Future. 2024 (online). Available at: Securing a Sustainable Food Future | World Resources Institute (wri.org). [Accessed June 2024].
4. Wellcome Trust website accessed 3/7/24 - Explained: climate change and the health risks of food homogeneity | News | Wellcome
5. Eat Lancet. Summary Report of the EAT-Lancet Commission. 2021 (online) Available at: EAT-Lancet_Commission_Summary_Report.pdf(eatforum.org). [Accessed June 2024].
6. British Dietetic Association. One Blue Dot: Eating patterns for healthy and environmental sustainability – a reference guide for dietitians. 2020 (online). Available at: https://www.bda.uk.com/resource/one-blue-dot.html [Accessed May 2023].
7. The Carbon Trust. The Eatwell Guide: a more sustainable diet: methodology and results summary. 2016 (Online). Available at: https://www.carbontrust.com/our-work-and-impact/guides-reports-and-tools/the-eatwell-guide-a-more-sustainable-diet [Accessed May 2023].
8. The Food Foundation. Obesity and dietary risks are leading causes of deaths and disability in UK 17th May 2024. Available at: https://foodfoundation.org.uk/press-release/obesity-and-dietary-risks-are-leading-causes-deaths-and-disability-uk [Accessed June 2024]
9. Scheelbeek P, Green R, Papier K, et al. Health impacts and environmental footprints of diets that meet the Eatwell Guide recommendations: analyses of multiple UK studies. BMJ Open 2020;10:e037554. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2020-037554.