Plant-based Diet

Lord Kamall Excerpts

Tuesday 28th October 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Katz (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend for that question. As she suggests, the farming road map is part of a package of land-based strategies being published by Defra, which will include the food strategy. It will set out what is needed to restore nature, address climate change and support the production of healthy and sustainable food. The land use framework to which she referred will express the land use implications of these objectives and how the Government intend to manage trade-offs between them. The road map itself will describe how the farming sector will be supported to deliver land management and land use changes. I can say that it will be published in due course.

My noble friend mentioned the sustainable farming incentive. This pays farmers and land managers to carry out actions that support the sustainable production of food and boost farm productivity and resilience while protecting and enhancing the environment. I am pleased to say to your Lordships’ House that the SFI now has more than 39,000 multi-year live agreements, and is not only delivering sustainable food production and nature recovery for today and the years ahead but putting money back in farmers’ pockets.

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

My Lords, a number of elite athletes follow a plant-based diet, and some of the wealthier ones are investing in companies that produce plant-based foods, but we know that not all plant-based foods are necessarily healthy. For example, some plant-based burgers or sausage rolls have been found to have higher levels of sodium or salt than their meat-based equivalents. This can be very confusing for consumers, especially those who want to eat more healthily. Are the Government satisfied that consumers wanting to switch to a plant-based diet have enough information to understand which plant-based foods are healthier and which are not? If not, who do the Government think is responsible for ensuring that consumers get the appropriate information they need to make an informed choice?

[Lord Katz (Lab)]

I thank the noble Lord for his question and his observations. Speaking personally, I find that we are eating far more of a varied diet at home, and indeed often plant-based and purely vegan meals. That is generally generated by the desire of my teenage daughters to live a healthier lifestyle, even if they are not particularly my objectives. The noble Lord makes a point about the way that, through the food strategy and the Eatwell Guide, we are trying to ensure that people have a clear understanding of what a healthy, balanced diet looks like and can be accessed, whether that includes meat and dairy or, indeed, a purely plant-based approach. It is important that consumers of all ages can access that information, which is being promoted as part of the food strategy.