So, what do we really want from food?
What do people actually want from food? The Food Conversation is the UK's largest-ever public dialogue on the question.
Since 2023 12 in depth deliberations have taken place – and over 75 communities have hosted their own community-led food conversations – reaching hundreds of citizens directly. What emerged is a clear – and growing – picture of what people actually want when it comes to the food system.
In 2025, that evidence reached Parliament: the Citizen Manifesto to Fix Food launched there, and A Citizen Mandate for Change showed the same values and priorities holding steady across regions and demographics. A report from March 2025 set out what the community conversations have revealed so far.
Explore in-depth analysis for each set of deliberations here, including a final UK-wide report.
Now, citizens from The Food Conversation are helping to shape the development of the government’s new food strategy through a Citizen Advisory Council. Find out more here.
Reports and findings
Unhealthy food costs UK £268bn a year
The The False Economy of Big Food report by Professor Tim Jackson uncovered that unhealthy food is costing the UK more than £250bn every year. For the first time ever, direct and indirect costs of diet-related ill health have been calculated by combining healthcare costs, social care costs, welfare spending, productivity losses, and the human cost of chronic disease and identifying what proportion relates to food.
The cost of doing nothing
There needs to be government initiative. They need to put health before profit
Appetite for government intervention
While citizens have deep rooted concerns about the food system, they are inherently solutions-focused in their thinking. The design of The Food Conversation has enabled them to consider many potential ways forward. Throughout the process, citizens have considered a raft of policy solutions that have been proposed previously – from sources such as the National Food Strategy, the United Nations, UKRI funded research, and other charities and NGOs.
Example policy areas for change
I want the government to start viewing food policy as a really important area
Background to the project
Food matters to everyone. It is at the heart of a resilient, thriving economy and healthy, prosperous communities. The UK food industry is worth over £100bn, yet many children go to bed hungry, many farmers are struggling to survive, and the cost of diet-related ill health is spiralling. Globally the way food is produced contributes significantly to the climate and nature crises. Yet, governments have struggled to grasp the nettle on food system policies. Attempts to change anything about the way food works have floundered as policymakers have disagreed about what people want from food.
The Food Conversation aims to change this and provide a well evidenced view of what citizens really think about food – exploring how citizens understand the complexities of the issue and the necessity for trade-offs.
Over 18 months, we set out across the four nations in 2023 and 2024 to understand the public perception of food systems and their appetite for change. We held conversations in Birmingham, Cambridge, Northumberland, West Yorkshire, East Kent, North and South Wales, Cornwall, South London, Northern Ireland, the Lothians, and Caithness, Sutherland, Ross, Orkney and Shetland.
The whole process is designed to be easy to understand and engaging, so that everyone – no matter what their background or interest – can participate. Nonetheless, it is methodologically robust, enabling in-depth conversation and deliberation. To find out more about the process, visit the FAQ page on The Food Conversation website.
Over 75 communities and hundreds more citizens have now hosted their own Food Conversation through a free, online toolkit.
What do people really think about food?
Unhealthy food costing UK over £250 bn
New analysis commissioned by FFCC finds the costs of Britain’s unhealthy food system are almost equivalent to the total annual UK healthcare spend.
The Government’s junk food ad ban
FFCC Head of Food Futures, Mhairi Brown, on upcoming junk food advertising restrictions
It's a mission to make food fair
FFCC CEO Sue Pritchard
What do people in Wales want from food?
In a new film for #TheFoodConversation, citizens in Wales tell us how they think the current food system could impact future generations.
"Take stock, and focus on delivery"
As part of a new blog series in the run up to the election, FFCC Chief Exec Sue Pritchard tells us what she’d do if she was Food Systems Minister.
“Make good food a right”
As part of a new blog series in the run up to the election, leading public health expert, Dr David Pencheon, tells us what he’d do if he were a Food Systems Minister.
What do citizens want from politicians?
In this new film for #TheFoodConversation, citizens from across the UK tell us more about what they want from politicians when it comes to food.
“Governments must set the playing field”
As part of a new blog series in the run up to the election, Helen Browning OBE tells us what she’d do if she were a Food Systems Minister.
Have your say on food
As food and health, farming and land use climb the election agenda, The Food Conversation is set to involve hundreds more citizens through locally-organised Food Conversations.