Table 4.

Ranking top three intervention priorities for national strategies

National strategies to alleviate food insecurity with a food focus	Rank score
Subsidies on healthy food choices (access)	50
Map and evaluate current national and local programmes (availability, access)	40
Universal free school meals (e.g. breakfast, lunch, snacks) (availability, access)	40
Improvements resilience and agility of food supply chains and environments (availability)	30
Pricing strategies in the retail food environment (access)	25
Taxes on unhealthy food choices (access)	20
Food literacy programmes in schools (utilisation)	10
Means-tested school meals (access)	5

Comments included: ‘We need to start with young children to ensure they are food secure to educationally attain and become economically active in the future and we need to incentivise healthy choices at the population level to reduce potential for future public health crises (put universal free school meals as #1)’ (Northern Ireland) and ‘…education alone cannot change the situation, nor fiscal incentives as they are subject to people’s choices and priorities. Therefore, I would support structural changes along the food system. I still think that food literacy is essential, but not only at the school level’ (Spain) and finally, a caution that ‘too many programmes are left without robust evaluation’ (England).