Over 100 retailers, businesses, investors, NGOs, and academics call for new ‘Good Food Bill’ as failing food system threatens national security and public health
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More than 100 major UK supermarkets, food businesses, investors, NGOs and academics have put their names to a joint statement calling for Government to introduce a new ‘Good Food Bill’ to transform the UK’s food system and ensure food and nutrition security for current and future generations
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69% of people think the UK Government should be doing more to ensure everyone can afford and access healthy food
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65% of people support the introduction of a ‘Food Bill’ that would put in place new duties and targets on government and government bodies to make healthy food more accessible and affordable
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Half (53%) of people think the current state of international affairs has made protecting the UK food supply ‘more important’
Wednesday 25th February 2026 – The UK’s food supply is facing unprecedented challenges. Last month the Government’s own research warned that in the increasingly likely event of continued biodiversity loss and the collapse of vital ecosystems, the UK could face food shortages, increased food prices and a threat to national security. With the nation still suffering the effects of the cost-of-living crisis and the highest food price inflation for 40 years, triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the aftermath of the global Covid19 pandemic, policy makers must now take action to protect the UK’s food system from further global shocks, an increasingly turbulent international context, ongoing extreme weather patterns and inflation.
In February the BDA and more than 100 major UK retailers, food businesses, investors, health organisations, food and farming NGOs and academics are calling on the UK Government to introduce a ‘Good Food Bill’ to protect citizens, farmers and food businesses. This would be a piece of legislation and a once-in-a-life time opportunity for the UK Government to set out a visionary plan to transform the food system. It would enshrine in law policies, targets and ambitions to improve public health, reduce inequalities, protect the environment and improve UK resilience, while safeguarding progress from short-term political cycles.
Businesses including Marks & Spencer (M&S), Danone, Co-op Group, Bidfood, The Compleat Food Group and major caterers Elior and Sodexo are standing alongside NGOs including The Food Foundation, Sustain, Green Alliance, Barnardo's and WWF, as well as health organisations like the British Medical Association, British Heart Foundation and the British Dental Association with a shared call for a ‘Good Food Bill’.
These issues are also of key importance to the electorate, and The Food Foundation has today released YouGov data showing 69% of people think the UK Government should be doing more to ensure everyone can afford and access healthy food, with only 3% saying they should be doing less. On top of this, half (53%) of people think the current state of international affairs has made protecting the UK food supply ‘more important.’ Support for action cuts across political divides, with 65% of people supporting the introduction of a government ‘Good Food Bill’ that would put in place new duties and targets on government and government bodies to make healthy food more accessible and affordable (1).
We already have a situation in the UK where 15% of households with children report experiencing food insecurity and where healthier foods are more than twice as expensive per calorie than less healthy foods and less available, type 2 diabetes is rising among young people, and 36% of children are living with overweight or obesity by secondary school. This demonstrates that major change is needed in the food system if Labour is to achieve its election manifesto pledges to ‘raise the healthiest generation of children ever’ and ‘end mass dependency on emergency food parcels.’ A ‘Good Food Bill’ would put into place the long-term duties required by government to deliver these important wins.
It has now been 14 months since the Government first set out its ambition for a food strategy and with the next King’s Speech approaching, now is the prime opportunity to commit to a White Paper as a precursor to a ‘Good Food Bill’ to lock in the government’s ambition for a healthier, more resilient, sustainable food system.
Anna Taylor, Executive Director, The Food Foundation, said, “A Good Food Bill would provide the durable policy foundation needed to transform the food system for generations to come. Governments can achieve important wins within a single term, but only legislation can lock in change, providing certainty and protecting progress from shifting political priorities. With food strategies and legislation already in place across the devolved nations, this is a timely opportunity for Westminster to introduce legislation that benefits the whole UK. We are calling on the Government to seize this moment, commit to new primary legislation and lead the change needed to build a food system fit for the future.”
Kath Dalmeny, Chief Executive, Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming said, "A Good Food Bill would give farmers, growers, businesses and communities the long-term certainty they need to invest in sustainable practices. The UK currently has very little strategic oversight to ensure everybody gets properly fed. But through smart investment, aligned trade policy and the right targets, legislation can unlock opportunities for growth, build resilient supply chains, and create a food system that works from farm to fork - supporting sustainable farming, protecting public health, and ensuring nobody goes without healthy, nutritious food in a country as wealthy as our own."
Lydia Collas, Head of Natural Environment, Green Alliance, said, “The breadth of this coalition – from major supermarkets to health experts – shows the need for a step change in the government’s approach to food policy. We are living in an age where global shocks and climate change are already having major impacts on our food system, leaving more people struggling to access healthy food. A Good Food Bill would provide a statutory imperative for this government, and those that follow, to make concerted progress towards everyone having access to healthy and sustainable food.”
Footnotes
1) All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2,070 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 27th - 28th January 2026. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).
