National Good Food Nation Plan: consultation analysis - executive summary - easy read

National Good Food Nation Plan Consultation Results Easy Read version

Introduction

The Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022 says the Scottish Government must make a national Good Food Nation (GFN) Plan.

The law also says that local government and the NHS have to make Good Food Nation Plans. The Scottish Government published a draft of the first national GFN Plan in January 2024.

The draft national GFN Plan sets out 6 Outcomes. Outcomes are the main goals we want to reach. The Scottish Government will make more national GFN Plans in the future. These Plans will help us to achieve the Outcomes.

The draft national GFN Plan says how the Scottish Government will work with people, communities, businesses and organisations to meet these Outcomes. It says how we will check progress.

The Outcomes are ambitious and will take time. They show how we need to change the way food is made, sold and how we get rid of the waste it produces. This will help us protect the environment.

The Scottish Government thought about human rights when they wrote the Outcomes in the draft national GFN Plan. This included thinking about the human right to food.

When the Government is going to make changes, they must ask the people for their views. This is called a consultation. The consultation on the draft national GFN Plan was done between January and April 2024.

15 workshops took place in different parts of Scotland. Information was also sent to schools so that children and young people could take part. The consultation was available in English, Gaelic and Easy Read.

Who responded to the Consultation

There were 452 responses to the online consultation. Around 400 people attended the workshops and over 1000 questionnaires came from children and young people.

What people told us

Councils and health boards were more positive about the draft Good Food Nation Plan. Charities, trade organisations and those in the public sector were less positive.

Main themes

The main themes from the consultation were:

Most people like the draft national GFN Plan. Some people said it is too general. Some people thought that the Plan talks about existing policies and does not have anything new.

People want more detail on what will be done and when. Some people want more information about how progress towards the Outcomes will be checked.

People are worried about funding and resources for the national GFN Plan. Everyone said more will be needed.

Some people said that councils and health boards should work together so that all Good Food Nation Plans fit together.

Some people asked how the national GFN Plan will fit with other plans and policies. They want to be sure that all the different plans and policies will work together.

Some people said all organisations will have to work together. Full involvement and support from the Scottish Government and the community will be needed.

People support the idea of a right to food for all people. They said that people should have access to good quality, nutritious food that is affordable.

Many people said that some people in Scotland cannot afford high quality food. Processed foods and foods that are high in fat, salt and sugar can be cheaper and easier to find.

Many people want to see more local foods available.

People said councils and health boards should buy more food from their local area. People thought it should be easier to buy food and services locally.

A lot of people said there should be better education, training and skills to help people understand about good food.

People want food education to be life-long. They said education on growing and cooking food is a life skill.

People also said that staff working with food and drink should be well trained. This would make sure they have the right skills and understanding.

Some people said the food and drink sector has a poor image for pay and working standards. This should be changed so that more skilled workers want to work in the sector.

Some said that people need to change to a plant-based diet. Some people said there need to be better animal welfare standards and changes to the way we farm and fish.

Some people said Scotland will have to work more with other countries. We need some food from other countries.

Some people felt that the language used in the Plan is too complicated. The information needs to be clearer so that all people can understand it.

Next Steps

The Scottish Government will look at the responses received from the consultation and use this to make changes to the national GFN Plan.

The national GFN Plan will then be sent to the Scottish Parliament for 60 days. The Scottish Parliament will look at the national GFN Plan and provide their views on how it could be improved.

The Scottish Government will look at the feedback from the Scottish Parliament and make changes before the final version of the national GFN Plan is published.