Published 27
September 2024
Directorate Agriculture and Rural Economy
Directorate
An independent analysis of the responses to the consultation on
the national Good Food Nation plan.
Supporting documents
Executive Summary
Background
The Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022 places duties on
Scottish Ministers to produce a national Good Food Nation
(GFN) Plan of their
policies in relation to food. This first draft national Plan
represents how the Scottish Government (SG) intends to use the powers and
levers it has to work collectively with people, communities,
businesses, agencies and organisations to meet GFN ambitions. These plans will
also have to set out the main Outcomes to be achieved in relation
to food-related issues, the policies needed to do this and the
measures that will be used to assess progress.
A set of overarching Outcomes have been developed. These are
ambitious and not meant to be achieved in the first iteration of
the national Plan. They are broad in nature and designed to be
applicable to policies across a wide range of areas. They
represent what the SG would like a sustainable
food system in Scotland to look like. They reflect the continued
need to adjust how food is produced, processed, distributed and
disposed of in Scotland to address the challenges of climate
change and environmental degradation.
The Good Food Nation Act requires Scottish Ministers to have
regard to specified provisions in international human rights
instruments, including the right to adequate food, when preparing
their national GFN Plan.
The consultation on the draft national GFN Plan was conducted between
January and April 2024. This built upon the framework outlined in
the 2022 Act and adopted a holistic approach towards greater
policy co-ordination across areas that are relevant to food.
Respondent profile
The programme of stakeholder engagement involved three key
elements: a consultation, a series of 15 stakeholder workshops
and distribution of interactive materials to schools across
Scotland; teachers and pupils were encouraged to participate. The
consultation paper was made available in English, Gaelic and Easy
read formats. In total, there were 452 responses to the
consultation, around 400 people attended the workshops and a
total of 883 questionnaires were received from children and young
people aged 13+. A further 202 questionnaires were received from
teachers who responded on behalf of children aged under 13.
Key Themes
A number of key themes were evident across responses to the
consultation questions, stakeholder events and schools, as well
as across respondent groups.
Across consultation responses, local authorities and health
boards tended to be most positive about the draft
national GFN Plan. Organisations within the
third sector, trade associations/representative bodies and those
in the public sector tended to be least positive. However, some
of the bases for these groups were small, so any quantitative
findings need to be considered with a degree of caution.
Additionally, when considering group differences, it should be
recognised that where a specific opinion has been identified in
relation to a particular group or groups, this does not indicate
that other groups did not share this opinion, but rather that
they simply did not comment on that particular point. While the
consultation gave all who wished to comment an opportunity to do
so, given the self-selecting nature of this type of exercise, any
figures quoted here cannot be extrapolated to a wider population
outwith the respondent sample.
To a large extent, comments made by respondents across all
elements of the stakeholder engagement echoed many of the points
raised in the draft national GFN Plan. While many respondents
provided considered opinions on the questions they were asked,
some of the responses also focused on how the draft national Plan
could be implemented.
The key themes identified by respondents were as follows:
- Across all respondents, views were generally positive about
the draft national GFN Plan and its constituent
elements. That said, many respondents also felt the draft
national Plan as it stands is too general in nature and rather
vague, with a focus on existing policies rather than introducing
anything new. There were a significant number of concerns as to
how Outcomes, targets and indicators will be measured, monitored
and evidenced. There were requests for detail to be provided on
pathways, measures and timeframes.
- There were a number of requests for more information
regarding how Outcomes, targets and indicators will be achieved.
Some respondents pointed to a need for baseline data against
which progress can be measured and monitored. It was felt that
the indicators need to provide a clear path to achieving the
Outcomes.
- A key concern from many respondents related to the funding
and resources that would be needed to implement the draft
national GFN Plan. There were calls for
additional funding and resources from all respondent sub-groups,
including local authorities and health boards, who will be
required to develop local GFN Plans.
- Allied to the issue of increased resources and funding, a
number of respondents pointed out the need for local authorities
and health boards to develop Plans in conjunction with each other
so as to have consistency across all GFN Plans.
- There were many queries as to how the draft
national GFN Plan
would link into other strategies and policies, along with
comments on the need to ensure that the national and
local GFN Plans
are fully aligned with other policy areas.
- Collaboration across the full range of stakeholders was seen
as important, given comments that the draft national Plan is
ambitious and needs a collective response across a wide range of
organisations, including public sector and non-public sector. It
was felt that collaboration would help to achieve buy-in to the
draft national Plan. Engagement by the Scottish Government was
seen as central, alongside support through resources and finance.
Community participation was also considered to be important in
achieving the GFN ambition.
- While there was support for the concept of a ‘right to food'
for all people, a number of concerns were highlighted over how to
achieve equitable access across Scotland. As such, there were a
number of comments on the need for all people to have access to
good quality, nutritious food which is affordable. Many
respondents noted that some people in Scotland cannot afford high
quality food, and that ultra-processed foods and/or foods high in
fat, salt and sugar are often much cheaper options and more
readily available.
- Many respondents wanted to see increased availability of
local foods, albeit they felt this would only be achieved with
improved local supply chains.
- The role of public procurement was seen as an important
enabler for local food supply chains. However, many respondents
identified a need for changes to procurement practices. It was
felt that at present constrained budgets and a lack of
flexibility in procurement practices are key barriers to the
procurement of local produce. There were therefore calls for more
flexibility in procurement approaches; for example, to allow for
support for local suppliers.
- A significant number of respondents focused on the need for
better education, training and skills so that all people can have
an understanding about good food. While some of these respondents
focused on education from early years throughout the curriculum,
others also noted that education should be lifelong. Overall,
respondents wanted to see everyone having access to education on
growing, preparing and cooking food as an essential life skill.
That said, while education is seen to be important, the
determinants of food choices also include affordability and
access to food.
- A number of respondents also focused on the need to ensure
that people working in the food and drink sector are well
trained. This would ensure the necessary skills are developed and
that all have a good understanding about good food.
- A number of respondents pointed out the need for enough
people with the right skills to be employed in the food and drink
sector to support the future of the sector. For example, some
respondents pointed out that the number of Environmental Health
Officers has declined in recent years. Furthermore, some
respondents saw the food and drink sector as having a poor image
in terms of pay and working standards. This would need to be
addressed in order to attract more skilled workers to the sector.
- The need for changes to diet were suggested by a number of
respondents, with references to a need to transition to a more
sustainable plant-based diet. There were also some references to
the need for more organic food to be available. Linked to the
issue of diet, some respondents also focused on the need for high
animal welfare standards and the need for changes to farming and
fishing techniques.
- While a significant number of respondents focused on the
availability of local food and supply chains, there were also
some references to the need to take a global view and collaborate
internationally as Scotland is currently, and likely to remain,
reliant on some imports and unlikely to become self-sufficient.
- Finally, there were calls for clear definitions to be
provided so that all people have a clear understanding of the
draft national GFN Plan. Some respondents felt
that the language used assumes a level of knowledge about food
that might not exist.
