Good Food Nation
We have set out a vision for Scotland to be “a Good Food Nation, where people from every walk of life take pride and pleasure in, and benefit from, the food they produce, buy, cook, serve, and eat each day.”
The Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022 provides the legislative framework that enables us to take steps towards realising our vision.
The Act underpins in law the work that is already being done across the Scottish Government to make Scotland a Good Food Nation. It is the foundation upon which we will build our Good Food Nation.
Good Food Nation plans
The Act places duties on Scottish Ministers, local authorities and health boards to produce Good Food Nation Plans. These Plans will 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.
These Plans will deliver outcomes which support, amongst other things:
- our nation’s social and economic wellbeing
- the environment
- people’s health and physical and mental wellbeing
- economic development
- animal welfare
- education
- child poverty
Scottish Ministers, local authorities and health boards must report on the progress towards achieving the outcomes set out in their Plans. Reports must be produced every two years, and the Plans must be reviewed at least every five years.
We've published a guide on the legislative duties that relevant authorities need to meet when writing their Good Food Nation plans (March 2025).
A statutory Scottish Food Commission will also be set up to scrutinise and make recommendations in relation to the Good Food Nation Plans. The Commission will conduct research and provide advice to Scottish Ministers, local authorities and health boards in carrying out their duties under the Act.
Ministerial Working Group on Food
We committed in the 2019 to 2020 Programme for Government to set up a Ministerial Working Group on Food to co-ordinate action in relation to food and drink matters across government.
This group has helped to shape the first national Good Food Nation Plan and will continue to act as the mechanism for cross-portfolio discussions and decision-making on food related policy at Ministerial level.
First national Good Food Nation Plan
The consultation on the draft national Good Food Nation Plan closed on 22 April 2024. The responses to the consultation were analysed and we published a consultation analysis report in September 2024. The report will inform the revision of the Plan. This work is underway. The revised Plan will then be laid before the Scottish Parliament for consideration before final publication.