The Foodsteps Monthly Digest - August Edition

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You don’t have to live in England to know that this country has had a very hot, very dry summer. It’s been all over the news, spotlighting the knock-on effect the weather has had on food security.

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According to a resilience survey from the IGD (Institute of Grocery Distribution), 91% of food system leaders and academics say that risk to UK food security has increased over the past year.

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We can't keep pushing action into the future. 

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Collecting granular supply chain data gives businesses the tools they need to act. Measuring the land, water, and carbon intensity of every ingredient in a supply chain identifies where exposure sits – while at the same time uncovering which ingredients, regions, and agricultural practices are harmful to the environment, or too risky to continue. 

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As we face increasing uncertainty, data acts as a guiding light, allowing us to make informed decisions that protect both the natural world and your business’s bottom line.

Policy & Regulation

LSRS-Updated RFP Guide

We’ve updated our RFP Guide so you can ask the right questions during procurement season and find a data partner who’s ready for LSRS. 

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The way you collect data changes on January 1st. If your data partner isn't built to handle this shift, you risk non-compliance, extended audits, and creating an inventory that cannot be used to set Science-Based Targets.

Find out the questions you need to ask by downloading our 2027 LSRS-Compliant RFP Guide here.

Industry Insights

The Power of Public Procurement

The British Dietetic Association recently published their position paper about reducing the carbon footprint of NHS inpatient menus.

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The NHS serves over 140 million meals each year, making changes to those menus highly influential – shifting demand all the way down the supply chain. Public procurement is one of the most underrated levers in the food system: it doesn't just change what patients eat, it changes what gets grown.

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Read more here.

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Innovating for Taste

We took a poll: what’s the biggest barrier to eating a more plant-forward diet? Taste and preference got 56% of the vote, while cost got zero.

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This sounded daunting at first – how do you change people’s preferences? – but on closer inspection, the barrier is more about design, messaging, and choice. And these are all problems we can solve.

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Rea more here.

Foodsteps News

Team Away Day

Every quarter, the entire Foodsteps team gathers for an off-site, and a couple of weeks ago we put away our laptops and put on our gardening gloves for an afternoon volunteering with Hackney City Farm's Haggerston Orchard Project.  

At Foodsteps, we're used to thinking about sustainability on an enterprise scale – what does systemic change look like? This is an important question, but it doesn't always feel tangible in the short-term. It’s always rewarding to strip things back and see what impact looks like at a community scale. 

Coming Up

Footprint Festival

Foodsteps is a founding member of the Footprint Festival, taking place next month at a farm in Hampshire. There is a fantastic schedule of events and panels, including insights from some of our partners at Levy, Restaurant Associates UK, and Oak View Group. We hope to see you there!

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