Good Food Nation plan: initial monitoring framework

Executive Summary

The National Good Food Nation Plan: Initial Monitoring Framework presents the initial monitoring framework for assessing progress towards the six strategic Outcomes outlined in Scotland’s first National Good Food Nation Plan, laid before the Scottish Parliament in December 2025. This document establishes a baseline for evaluating Scotland’s food system and sets out 51 high-level indicators used to monitor progress towards the six ambitious Outcomes established in the National Good Food Nation Plan.

Purpose and Context

The Good Food Nation (Scotland) Act 2022 mandates the development of a national Plan to guide food policy in Scotland. The Plan envisions a food system that supports health, sustainability, economic prosperity, community empowerment, and global responsibility. This publication supplements Part 3 of the Plan by setting out the evidence base behind our selected indicators and setting these within a wider policy context.

Monitoring Framework

The indicators are drawn from existing secondary data sources and are designed to:

• Provide a high-level assessment of Scotland’s food system as of 2025.
• Serve as a baseline or reference point for future monitoring and policy evaluation.

The initial framework acknowledges several data gaps and limitations with data sources in areas such as food environments, animal welfare and food culture. It also highlights the ongoing need to consider new indicators and improve data collection, including through collaboration with research institutions and the Scottish Food Commission.

Key Outcomes and Indicators

Key messages from each indicator included in this framework under each Outcome are shown below.

Outcome 1 - A Better Food Environment

• Following a period of relative stability from 2015 to 2021, food prices have become a major driver of overall inflation since 2022.
• Food insecurity reported by individuals increased significantly in 2023, but returned to previously recorded levels in 2024. Adults in single parent households were the most likely to experience food insecurity.
• The overall uptake rate of school meals (free and paid for) across all school types was up in 2023-2024, marking a return to pre-pandemic levels. Uptake of school meals is highest among pupils with universal entitlement to free meals compared to where free meal provision is means-tested.
• The overall drop off in the proportion of mothers that continue breastfeeding from birth to 6-8 week review point has been declining, falling by 10.5 percentage points between 2016/17 (35.8%) and 2024/25 (25.3%).
• Consumer trust in Food Standards Scotland (FSS) has remained high and broadly stable. FSS plays a critical role in ensuring businesses comply with the legal standards that protect the safety and authenticity of our food.
• All food businesses have a legal requirement to ensure the food they place on the market is safe. The percentage of businesses achieving a ‘Pass’ rating in the Food Hygiene Information Scheme (FHIS) has remained high, at over 90% since 2015-2016.
• The number of food samples tested for food safety, standards and authenticity in Scotland have been declining, reaching a low in 2020/21 during the Covid-19 pandemic. Since 2020/21, sampling numbers have gradually increased.
• From Spring 2026, there will be new survey data available which will indicate how many people in Scotland are changing what they eat, motivated by health and/or sustainability reasons.

Outcome 2 - A Sustainable Food System

• Around a third of emissions from our food system were linked to agricultural activity. Total agriculture emissions have been in a long-term decline. In 2023, GHG emissions were at their lowest levels since the baseline period (1990).
• The agricultural sector is dependent on inputs of Nitrogen (N), from both organic and inorganic sources. From 2000, the overall application rates of nitrogen fertilisers have decreased, with some fluctuation.
• In 2021, the per capita food waste was estimated to be 189 kg per person per year. This represents a 2% increase since 2013.
• Climate change is associated with a range of impacts across food processing, distribution, retailing, consumption and the disposal of food waste. The Scottish National Adaptation Plan sets out a range of actions being undertaken to build Scotland’s resilience to climate change – including the resilience of our food system.
• The activities in Scotland’s food system and supply chain will continue to have an influence on biodiversity - particularly in relation to agricultural production and use of marine resources. There are a range of other drivers of biodiversity loss including climate change, pollution and the impact of invasive species.
• Air pollutants associated with primary food production, such as ammonia, PM10 and PM2.5 are at lower or at similar levels to those recorded in 2005. However, Volatile Compounds (VOCs) have increased significantly, with Scotch whisky maturation being a large contributor.
• The total area of land under organic land management has increased in recent years from a record low in 2018. However, total area remains lower compared to pre 2014-levels.
• Healthy soils and sustainable management of existing soil resources enable Scotland’s food system to produce high-quality food and drink products. Monitoring of soil health in a changing climate is a priority for the Scottish Government.
• Animal welfare standards are an important food concern for Scottish consumers. Three-quarters of Scottish consumers reported being highly or somewhat concerned about animal welfare. Going forward, data will capture how often consumers check for information on animal welfare when purchasing food.
• More than three-quarters of laying hens in Scotland are either free-range or organic in 2025. This has increased from just over half of laying hens in 2014.
• The number of livestock animals inspected by local authorities has increased in recent years and is more in line with numbers recorded before the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Scotland is recognised as being officially TB free with consistently low and stable prevalence of bovine tuberculosis (TB) in Scottish cattle herds.
• The sustainability status of stocks in Scottish waters has increased through time.
• Atlantic Salmon production has grown from very low levels to be a high value food product that is the UK’s biggest single food export. The total production of Atlantic salmon during 2024 was 192,000 tonnes, an increase of 41,051 tonnes (27%) on the 2023 total.

Outcome 3 - A Healthy Population

• Mean fruit and vegetable consumption by adults in Scotland remains well below the Scottish Dietary Goal of 5 portions per day.
• Mean fruit and vegetable consumption among children in 2023 remained at the higher end of the range recorded since 2008, but remains short of the Scottish Dietary Goal.
• In 2024, the vast majority of adults in Scotland did not meet dietary goals for fibre (of 30g per day) and only a fifth met the goal for free sugar consumption (maximum of 5% energy from free sugars). Most adults do meet the goal to eat no more than an average of 70g of red and red-processed meat per day.
• The proportion of adults with a healthy weight has remained relatively stable over time from 2012 to 2024. Although the proportion of adults that are overweight has decreased slightly over this period, the proportion that are obese (including morbidly obese) has increased.
• The difference in the proportions of adults with a healthy weight between the least and most deprived quintiles of the population has fluctuated over time.
• More than six in ten children were in the healthy weight range as measured by BMI in 2024. This proportion has been in the range 64% to 72% since 1998.
• In 2024, 59% of children in the most deprived communities in Scotland have a healthy weight, compared to more than 74% in the least deprived communities.
• Prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in adults has remained broadly stable. In 2024, there was a significant reduction in the prevalence gap between adults in the most and least deprived areas.
• Prevalence of doctor diagnosed diabetes in adults has remained broadly stable, however rates are higher for adults in more deprived areas.
• Child oral health has improved over recent decades. In 2024, more than 7 in 10 P1 children examined showed no obvious decay experience. Inequalities between the least and most deprived areas remain.
• An improved food system is expected to contribute positively to mental health outcomes for Scotland’s population. However, a suitable indicator to assess and monitor this has not been identified at this stage, with further work required to develop indicators.

Outcome 4 - A Strong food and drink sector

• Following the Covid-19 pandemic, real economic output from the sector (as measured by Real GVA) contracted sharply in 2023. Although 2024 showed some recovery, recent data indicates the sector is contracting again in 2025.
• Recent data suggests a lower proportion of new businesses registered in 2022 in the food and drink sector continued to trade after one year compared to previous years; but the longer term picture is less clear.
• Food and drink businesses are more ‘innovation-active’ than businesses generally, but their innovation activity declined in 2020-22.
• After record high values in 2022-23, average farm income in 2023-24 was the lowest estimated since 2019-20 (after adjusting for inflation).
• Median pay in the food and drink sector has increased at a similar rate to the average across all sectors in recent years. However, overall pay levels in the sector remain below the all-sector median.
• The number of Modern Apprenticeship starts and ‘achievements’ in the food and drink sector has increased over time from 2021-22 to 2024-25.
• The Gender Pay Gap for Median Gross Hourly earnings (excluding overtime) in the Food Manufacturing sector has narrowed over time, but remains consistently higher that the Gender Pay Gap across all industries and services.
• The UK’s overall balance of international trade and domestic production of food remains broadly stable. The UK continues to source food from domestic production and trade at around an overall 65:35 ratio.
• The area of land in Scotland that is cultivated for fruit and vegetable production has increased by around one third (+33.4%) in the past 10 years, but represents only 0.5% of total agricultural land.
• After accounting for annual variations, Scotland produces more than it consumes across a range of agricultural commodities. Scotland is a net exporter of fish, cereals (barley and oats), potatoes, beef, dairy and eggs. Scotland is a net importer of pork, fruits and vegetables.
• Over the long-term global food production has continued to grow and keep up with population growth.

Outcome 5 - A Thriving Food Culture

• There are wide-ranging benefits for people associated with growing their own food in allotments and other community growing sites. Data on allotment availability and waiting lists are held at a local authority level.
• In 2024, more than 3 in 10 adults (who had a garden or allotment) had grown fruit and vegetables to consume in the home. This increases in households with children.
• Half of local authorities have a Food for Life Served Here (FFLSH) certification for some or all of their school meals services.
• Since the opening of the Food for Thought Fund, the number of learners reached ech year has decreased over time.
• Over half of households report always or often intentionally buying seasonal fruit and vegetables in 2024, whilst over a third report always or often buying locally produced food.
• A thriving ‘food culture’ in Scotland is expected to support overall health and wellbeing of the Scottish population. However, a suitable indicator to assess and monitor this has not been identified at this stage, with further work required to develop indicators.

Outcome 6 - Global Impact

• Food and drink products recognised under Geographical Indication (GI) schemes has increased from 6 in 1996, to 16 currently (this includes Native Shetland Wool). There have been no new food products designated under GI schemes since 2020.
• Scotland’s food and drink international exports have been relatively stable over time as seen in both current and real terms.
• 15% of visitors to Scotland were motivated to visit due to Scotland’s food and drink.
• Scotland’s food sector makes many positive contributions to global food system transformation. However, a suitable indicator to assess and monitor this has not been identified at this stage, with further work required to develop indicators.

Future Reporting and Development

The Scottish Government will update the indicator data at least twice during the lifespan of the first Plan, aligning with statutory progress reports. A revised indicator framework will be developed alongside any future revisions to the Plan, incorporating new data sources and seeking to address current evidence gaps.