Why do we need a Good Food Bill?

Food prices are rising and families are struggling to afford healthy food, which costs nearly twice as much per calorie, while farmers are facing rising costs from climate pressures and an increasingly volatile global food system.

That’s why we’re leading a coalition of more than 100 organisations in calling for a Good Food Bill to create a long-term framework that makes food a national priority, coordinates action across Government and provides the stability needed to drive lasting change beyond political cycles.

Polling shows three in four people support the bill so now is the perfect time for our leaders to act.

A Good Food Bill would include:

• Statutory targets to reduce childhood obesity, increase the production and consumption of home-grown fruit and vegetables, and reduce food insecurity, providing clear national objectives for improving health, food security and resilience. 
• A Reference Diet defining what affordable, nutritious and sustainable eating looks like, to guide policymaking consistently across government. 
• Good Food Action Plans, published every five years, setting out how government will meet the statutory targets through coordinated action across departments and at national and local level. 
• Ministerial and local authority duties requiring decision-makers to consider the statutory targets and Reference Diet in policies affecting food, including health, agriculture, planning and trade, helping to strengthen local food systems and improve accountability. This would link planning and procurement to whether residents can afford to eat well. 
• Independent oversight to monitor progress, ensure accountability and provide the certainty needed to deliver lasting change through legislation.

The Good Food Bill Campaign is a joint initiative between The Food Foundation, Green Alliance and Sustain.

Join our campaign to:

• Prevent the next cost of living crisis
• Protect against future shocks
• Transform public health
• Drive economic growth

Learn more about the case for a Good Food Bill in our Fixing Food for Good briefing:

Signatories to our most recent Good Food Bill Campaign letter to Prime Minister  Andy Burnham include:

Image