This briefing summarises a new report ‘From the Ground Up’ – which shares new findings from the Citizen Advisory Council’s What Works Here Inquiries.

In late 2025, the Citizen Advisory Council (CAC) ran What Works Here Inquiries in four very different regions of England: Cornwall, York and North Yorkshire, Liverpool and Merseyside, and the North East. The CAC met more than eighty people, with different connections to food systems; those who grow, catch, make, sell and share food for a living, and those with responsibilities for the health and prosperity of their regions – doctors, council leaders and mayors.

In every region, people are already creating real value for their communities through food – despite a food economy optimised for cheap calories and shareholder profits.

Some key areas of change that citizens want to see:

• Power and money devolved to places with long-term funding, devolved budgets and investment to rebuild local infrastructure
• Procurement reformed so schools, hospitals and prisons can prioritise healthy regional and UK produce
• Food rules untangled into one clearer law, much of it simply clearing the way for what works, at little cost

Their findings will feed into the government’s Good Food Cycle.