Polling shows three in four Britons support a Good Food Bill

It’s time for government policies on food to catch up with what the public already knows, writes our Project Officer Finlay Hatch

The next food shock - as highlighted by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East - is not a question of if, but when.

Reports of likely increases in food prices landed in the news almost immediately, but this time, they’ve hit a nerve with the public.

Our latest polling reveals an extraordinary cross-party consensus that our food system is broken, and that the government needs to legislate to fix it.

The consensus on food shouldn’t be surprising. The latest crisis lands on the back of recent global shocks such as Covid and the Russian invasion of Ukraine which exposed the vulnerability of our food system and resulted directly in food price shocks, higher food insecurity and a cost of living crisis that lives vividly in the minds of everyone who lived through it and for many, has never really ended.

In our briefing, Fixing Food for Good, we set out the case for a Good Food Bill as a necessary statutory framework that can prevent a repeat of past failures by reorienting the UK's food system and provide certainty for citizens, farmers, growers, businesses and investors alike.

This new polling, detailed below, shows the argument for a Good Food Bill has landed with British people, yet last week's King's Speech omitted food security entirely. It’s time for policy to catch up with what the public already knows.

A Good Food Bill commands higher public support than a migration budget, a wealth tax, electoral reform and planning reform - across every key demographic and political affiliation, including Reform UK voters.

The findings, from a nationally representative poll of 3,179 adults conducted by Hold Sway in April 2026, came ahead of the King's Speech and amid warnings that UK food prices are on track to be 50% higher by November 2026 compared to levels at the start of the cost-of-living crisis in mid-2021 (ECIU, 2026).

The findings 

The Good Food Bill commands net approval of +72 overall - virtually identical across the political spectrum: Conservative +77, Lib Dem +79, Reform UK +72, Labour +69, Green +73.

In head-to-head comparisons with other policy proposals, the Good Food Bill came out on top for every demographic and political group tested: 

• Good Food Bill: net +72
• Wealth tax: net +42
• Migration budget: net +37
• Electoral reform: net +27
• Planning reform: net +24 

Support is highest among women over 65 - 92% back the Bill - a group who both feel rising food costs most acutely and vote in the highest numbers.

Why now 

In our briefing, Fixing Food for Good, we made the case as to why legislation is urgently needed.

Food insecurity is already at 15% among households with children (Food Foundation, 2026), even before the worst effects of the conflict in the Middle East have hit supermarket shelves as supply chains are disrupted and fertiliser costs have already risen 40%.

Climate change is also projected to push food inflation up a further 34% by 2050 (Autonomy Institute, 2025). The UK imports 64% of its fruit and vegetables, and domestic production has fallen 16% since 2015, making us particularly vulnerable to these global climate and geopolitical shocks.

Despite this, there is no statutory framework for food policy in the UK - meaning every government can ignore, delay or abandon food commitments when political priorities change. With no inclusion of a Good Food Bill in the King’s Speech, the government chose not to change that.

The Good Food Bill would establish a statutory framework for the UK food system for the first time: legally binding targets to reduce childhood obesity, increase domestic production and consumption of fruit and vegetables, and reduce household food insecurity; ministerial duties to consider food across all relevant government decisions; five-yearly action plans; local food plans; and independent oversight to hold every future government to account.

Time for a Good Food Bill 

Government legislation with legal targets and accountability was a specific recommendation of Henry Dimbleby's National Food Strategy in 2021. Since then, a cost of living crisis has created growing public awareness of food system failures and built real momentum.

In February 2026, more than 100 major UK supermarkets, food businesses, investors, NGOs and academics lead by The Food Foundation, Green Alliance, and Sustain, signed a joint statement calling for a Food Bill, and this April, Sarah Dyke MP tabled a presentation bill - the Food Bill - in the House of Commons.