Political Economy

In 2024, The False Economy of Big Food report by Professor Tim Jackson provided the first comprehensive estimate of the food-related cost of chronic disease, caused by the current food system. It estimated the figure at £268bn. The analysis combined direct costs – the costs paid for from the public purse – including healthcare costs, social care costs and welfare, and indirect costs – costs that don’t show up in government accounts – which are productivity losses and human costs.

In September 2026, Professor Jackson updated his analysis, finding that the costs of Britain’s unhealthy food system amount to £298 billion every year, furthering the case for a new food economy.

Britain’s food has been cheapened for decades. In the push to produce low-cost calories, farmers’ incomes have stagnated, a small number of companies now dominate Britain’s food chain, and immense costs to people’s health and nature have piled up. In a volatile world facing the effects of climate change and turbulent politics, the country’s long-term food security is at risk.

This report turns to the farmers and the food chain that keep Britain fed – and seeks to answer three simple questions. Why have farmers felt squeezed by the push for cheaper food at all costs? Why is this a problem? And what should be done?

A common claim from big food companies is that they contribute to the economy: through jobs, investment and growth. But is this the full picture?

This new and significant piece of work starts the process of investigating the real costs and benefits of the businesses that dominate our food system. Building on The Food Conversation, it proposes a new value framework and sets out to identify a creative, impactful and feasible way to assess the performance of the whole UK agri-food system, its constituent sectors, and the contributions of the most dominant corporations within it.