Plant-based Diet

Baroness Boycott Excerpts

Tuesday 28th October 2025 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Boycott]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the benefits to human health and the wider environment by promoting a predominantly plant-based diet.

[Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Katz) (Lab)]

My Lords, we know that a diet based predominantly on fruit, vegetables and higher-fibre starchy foods but also containing some protein, such as beans, pulses, meat, fish or eggs, and dairy or dairy alternatives, as depicted in the UK’s Eatwell Guide, is associated with improved environmental outcomes and reduced risk of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers.

[Baroness Boycott (CB)]

I thank the Minister for that Answer, but I am not quite sure what the Government are doing to arrive at that result. Currently around 62% of UK grain goes to feed livestock. Meat products, for instance, are only 32% of the calories consumed in the UK, but livestock feed and land space make up 85%. It is disproportionate, especially when you add in the known health impacts. I would like to know what measures the Government are taking to achieve a more plant-based diet.

[Lord Katz (Lab)]

I thank the noble Baroness, but I point out that the UK’s dietary guidelines, as depicted in the Eatwell Guide, to which I referred in my Answer, already recommend a diet that is based predominantly on plant foods. Analysis has shown that adherence to that guide does indeed improve both health and environmental outcomes. We are clear that we have to promote healthy eating messages based on that guide. We are working with the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition both to improve robust assessments of the evidence that we receive and to make sure that we work with our farming industry to produce environmentally sustainable food that we can rely on as a country and export.