Emma is a 21-year-old dietetics masters student from West Yorkshire. Last year, alongside over 340 citizens from across the UK, she took part in #TheFoodConversation – the UK’s biggest ever deliberation on food that’s asking people: what do you really want from food?

Emma had never been involved in any kind of citizen assembly or deliberation before, but when she got the invitation (over 118,000 were sent out), her interest was piqued: “Food was something I was already interested in. But I was starting this masters course and I thought that sitting down with a group of people and talking about food would be a really good way to learn about food in a different way – and hear some different perspectives.”

Making sure that the perspectives in the room reflected the wider demographics of the community was a critical part of The Food Conversation. In each location, citizens were recruited via the ‘Sortition Approach,' a method that recreates a ‘miniature public’ of each location.

As one of the youngest in the room, Emma especially enjoyed hearing the views of older participants: “It was really fascinating to hear from people who had experienced the transition from a society that mostly ate whole, unprocessed foods to a society whose diet is largely based on convenience food.”

Convenience foods are of particular concern to Emma – especially the dominance of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) in the UK food system: “I feel quite strongly about the damage that UPFs cause to everyone’s health. A lot of people don’t know very much about this or don’t think about it – and people’s lives are being put at risk.”

Her concerns are justified. In our recent report, ‘The False Economy of Big Food’, the cost of unhealthy food to the UK was estimated at £268bn per year – an eye-watering number, and almost equivalent to the UK’s annual healthcare spend.

Instead, Emma wants to see less junk foods on our high streets, more awareness of the impacts of UPFs, and more steps taken to empower people to shop locally.

How to do this? Education, she says, could be one way forward. As Emma puts it, UPFs are “convenient and cheap,” and teaching people how to cook easy, healthy meals could be part of the answer. It doesn’t stop there though: “I think, on a government and a company level, there needs to be more accountability – to not see food so much as a money-making business, but rather as people’s health.”

Emma has felt this acutely as a student. At her university canteen, despite there being healthy choices alongside unhealthy ones, the deals are always on unhealthy foods - such as fried breakfasts and processed meats. When asked if she ever felt targeted as a student by fast food outlets, Emma replied, “Definitely.”

“Where we lived in Leeds, there were lots of takeaways in the area and we were always getting leaflets pushed through the door about new ones that had opened and student deals, like discounts and offers.”

Emma’s experience isn’t unique. Growing evidence suggests that fast food outlets are intentionally targeting young people. In December, a recent report from Bite Back and the University of Cambridge demonstrated a 59% increase, since 2014, in the number of schools with a fast-food outlet in close proximity.

The rising prominence of UPFs and junk foods in the everyday lives of young people is starting to capture government’s attention: councils have been granted new powers to ban takeaways near schools through planning policy, and a junk food ad ban is due to come into effect later this year. But the latest findings from The Food Conversation show that citizens want government to go further, with stronger regulations for big food businesses and policies that ensure everyone can eat well.

When Emma envisions a good food future, she thinks of one where she is afforded full food autonomy. “I want to take my health into my own hands,” she says, “I want to be able to choose the right kinds of food for me.”

It’s a sentiment shared by her fellow Food Conversation participants – despite some parts of the media and political world crying “nanny state!” to more interventionist food policy. Regardless of their background or political views, Emma was struck by the consensus in the room that things needed to change: “Something that stood out to me was that people really wanted action. People were like, ‘We’re sick of this. We really need to see a change. We need things to be done.’”