The Food Foundation and FFCC have been working with Defra to run a groundbreaking programme of citizen engagement for the new Food Strategy.
A Citizen Advisory Council (CAC), made up of Food Foundation Ambassadors and Food Conversation participants, is helping to co-ordinate the programme and feed back to the Defra policy team. This work will ensure citizens voice is at the heart of this new strategy.
Watch the video below to hear some of their reflections at the first in-person CAC meeting earlier this year.
The CAC will help strengthen the work of Defra officials and their wider programme of stakeholder engagement, which includes the Food Strategy Advisory Board. Citizen involvement will test the comprehensiveness of the strategy, highlight gaps and focus on policy implementation issues and challenges.
Barbara, West Yorkshire
Catherine McMinn, County Londonderry
Claire Fraser, Caithness
Craig, Northumberland
David Njoku, Berkshire
Dominic Watters, Kent
Emmanuela Kumi, London
Glory Omoaka, Glasgow
Hasan Nassar, West Yorkshire
Jamie, Carmarthenshire
Jo-Ann McLoughlin, England
Karl, Cornwall
Katharine, Orkney
Kerri Bridges, London
Maria Chukwu-Nsofor, London
Martin McCloy, County Antrim
Matthew Bixby, Gwynedd
Paul Fowler, Cornwall
Penny Walters, Tyne and Wear
Peter Gorringe, Northumberland
Rebecca Sly, South West England
Rushda Mahmood, West Yorkshire
Ruth Amaeze, East Kent
Siddhi Pandit, London
Wena Isename, Edinburgh
Citizen 26 (prefers to remain anonymous), Cornwall
Citizen 27 (prefers to remain anonymous), England
Who are the Citizen Advisory Council (CAC)?
The Citizen Advisory Council (CAC) is a group of 30 citizens representing different geographic, social and economic backgrounds from across the UK. They bring with them a lived experience of the UK food system and a focus on what works for them, their family, their community and future generations of people living in the UK. They come to the project having already spent time understanding the way the UK food system works as participants in the Food, Farming and Countryside’s Food Conversation or the Food Ambassador programme, led by The Food Foundation.
What have the Council done so far?
The Council was set up in the spring 2025 to help shape Defra’s new Food Strategy. In the first phase of their work, citizens observed stakeholder workshops with representatives from businesses, civil society and academia. They then designed their own workshops with a wider group of citizens. Their first report, Laying the Foundation, published in September 2025 at the Labour Party Conference, sets out some of what the citizens want to see from the new Food Strategy.
What are the What Works Here Inquiries?
In Phase 1, CAC members identified the need to investigate what is already working to make good food possible across the country. In Phase 2, the regional What Works Here Inquiries have been co-designed with the Council to do just this, taking place in four different areas of the UK where food systems transformation is already happening: Cornwall, Yorkshire, Merseyside and the North East Combined Authority. CAC members have visited each region to understand how food works in each place – from farming and fishing through to processing, distribution, consumption and waste. They aim to understand what national policy can learn from the work happening all around the country.
What did the Council do in each place?
Each Inquiry involves a different group of 4-6 Council members who, as citizen researchers, bring their own knowledge and experience to this phase of work. They asked: what enables places to deliver good food? What gets in the way? What would help successful approaches to reach more people?
We worked with local anchor institutions to bring together an interesting cross-section of organisations, businesses and local leaders for CAC members to meet in each place. In November 2025, they spent two days meeting with people and visiting projects. These meetings were led by the citizens and informed by the issues they are keen to explore.
Why did the CAC members visit these places?
Cornwall, Yorkshire, Merseyside and the North East Combined Authority (NECA) were identified as places where food system transformation is already happening – while being representative of urban, rural and coastal communities. They were also chosen for their relevance to the four pillars of the new Food Strategy – health (Yorkshire), sustainability (Cornwall), food security (Liverpool) and economic growth (NECA).
How will this feed into the Food Strategy?
Following the Inquiries, the Council are now reviewing and analysing the findings – with the option of commissioning additional research to fill in gaps or find out more about specific food system issues and solutions. Ultimately, the Council will co-design a set of recommendations for Defra, drawing on what they have learnt about regional, place-based food systems – and how this can inform the new Food Strategy.
