To share the Director of Public Health Annual Report 2022 with the Health and Wellbeing Board. The focus of the 2022 report is health and sustainable food titled “A recipe for healthy and sustainable food”.

Matt Pearce (Director of Public Health) provided an overview of the DPH Annual Report for 2022. The focus of the report was on healthy and sustainable food and to highlight the key challenges facing the county with recommendations for actions that may want to be considered as part of the report. The principal points included:

1.     As part of the report, the Director of Public Health wants to celebrate the great things that are going on in Herefordshire in promoting healthy and sustainable food.

a.     For example, the Herefordshire Food Alliance (HFA) is a key partnership of stakeholders from the public, private and voluntary sectors to look at how this agenda can be driven forwards.

2.     Food and diet are associated with developing chronic diseases with cancer and diseases of the circulatory system (such as heart disease and stroke) the leading causes of premature deaths in Herefordshire.

3.     Herefordshire has a higher prevalence of child and adult obesity compared to the national average.

4.     In addition, the environmental impact is significant and having a healthy environment is beneficial to people’s health and lifestyles.

5.     A shift to plant-based diets, sustainable, seasonal and locally sourced foods and a reduction of food waste can greatly reduce carbon emissions from this sector.

a.     Farming is an essential part of rural life and of Herefordshire communities’ prosperity, with 77% of Herefordshire land farmed.

6.     In Herefordshire, more than a third of black bin rubbish is food waste and its packaging. From 2022, local analysis found that 70% of food thrown away in Herefordshire was considered avoidable.

7.     Food insecurity is another key challenge to healthy and sustainable food with multiple factors affecting national food security and the resilience of food supply chains.

a.     Price and affordability are major determinants of the food that people choose to purchase, particularly for people on low incomes.

8.     In Herefordshire, there has been a 100% increase in the use of food banks over the last 12 months, reflecting the impact that the cost of food has had on residents.

9.     The Director of Public Health noted the opportunities that exist to promote healthy and sustainable food across the course of one’s life.

10.  In some of the studies, it has been found that more work needs to be done to support the eating habits of young children.

11.  There is good work ongoing with Herefordshire Council participating in the national School Food Standards pilot with work being done in order to raise the quality of food being delivered in schools across the county.

12.  The Healthy Start programme provides food for women who are pregnant and children up to the age of four, who are eligible. In Herefordshire, only 61% of eligible families claim the Healthy Start food vouchers, meaning that annually £154,000 of funds are going unclaimed.

13.  The proportion of adults in Herefordshire meeting the recommended 5-a-day is higher (62.7%) than rates in West Midlands (52.6%) and England (55.4%). However, 40% of our populations is still  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8