Good Food Bill campaigners vow to intensify pressure after King’s Speech silence on food crisis

The Government has missed a crucial opportunity to address the growing food crisis facing British households, after the King’s Speech this 13 May 2026 made no mention of food policy despite mounting pressure on family budgets and food security. 

Food prices are the number one concern of the British public, cited by 92% of consumers in the most recent Food Standards Agency tracker, with 60% highly concerned - the highest level on record (FSA Consumer Insights Tracker, December 2025). A basic shopping basket costs 33% more than four years ago, and climate change is projected to push food inflation up by a further 34% by 2050. The UK imports 64% of its fruit and vegetables, and conflict in the Middle East is tightening supply chains that were already fragile. These are not background risks but active threats to British households, British farmers, and British national security. 

The Good Food Bill Campaign - supported by over 100 food, farming, health and business organisations, and led by the Food Foundation, Green Alliance and Sustain - is calling on the Government to introduce legislation to transform the UK’s food system and protect British households, farmers and the economy from the next food crisis. 

Food security is no less urgent than energy security. When this country faced an energy crisis, it legislated. Binding targets, long-term frameworks, statutory duties - these are what turned aspiration into action. Our food system deserves the same treatment. 

The cost of waiting will be measured in NHS waiting lists, food bank queues, and communities that have simply run out of options. We call on the government to bring forward food legislation before the end of this Parliament. 

Anna Taylor, Executive Director, The Food Foundation, said: 

“The public understands this urgency - and has for some time. Food prices are the number one concern of British households, yet the Government has chosen to say nothing. A Good Food Bill would give us legally binding targets, ministerial accountability and independent oversight: the same statutory backbone driving the energy transition, applied to food. The question is whether the Government is finally ready to act.” 

Glen Tarman, Director of Policy and Advocacy Director for Sustain, said: 

“Sustain’s alliance of organisations has spent decades working with communities, farmers and organisations across food, health and the environment to build a better food system - and the lesson is always the same. Without a statutory framework, progress depends on political will that can evaporate overnight. Today’s King’s Speech offered nothing directly to the millions of households struggling to afford a healthy diet, nothing to the farmers facing an uncertain future, and nothing to the businesses trying to plan for a food system that works long term. A Good Food Bill would change that - and this Parliament still has time to deliver it.” 

 

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