Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to recommendation in the report published in July 2021 by the National Food Strategy that meat consumption in the UK should be reduced by 30 per cent by 2030 to protect people's health, the environment and the planet, whether his Department plans to take steps to (a) incentivise investment in alternatives to animal-based foods and (b) support business innovation in the plant-based protein sector.

We are grateful to Henry Dimbleby and his team for their work on this independent review examining our food system and the vital role it plays in all our lives. We are committed carefully to consider the Independent Review and its recommendations and will be responding in full with a White Paper in the next six months. The White Paper will set out the Government’s ambition and priorities for a food system that will deliver for people, nature and climate, and support our farmers to produce the high-quality, high-welfare produce for which they are renowned.