Tesco and Sainsburys join call for urgent action on national food security from new PM

A cross-sector letter (full letter available on request) has today been sent to Andy Burnham calling on him to urgently introduce a Good Food Bill. This would act as a legally binding framework that would improve national food and nutrition security, public health and food system resilience.

With wildfires raging across Europe and geopolitics remaining on a knife edge, the fragility of the UK food system is increasingly obvious. That fragility, alongside diet-related disease being at record highs, is now of clear concern to the public, business leaders, charities, health experts and farmers alike. The letter calls on the new Prime Minister to ensure the food system becomes a national priority, alongside energy and defence.

 Signatories include major retailers Tesco, Sainsbury's, Aldi, Co-op, Waitrose and Booths (making up more than 64% of the grocery market share) as well manufacturers Danone, Greencore and Samworth Bros and foodservice wholesaler Bidfood, alongside leaders from investment, civil society, academia and the health sector. The Good Food Bill campaign is led by The Food Foundation, Green Alliance and Sustain. 

The UK's food system has suffered repeated shocks in recent years. Farmers and growers face rising costs and increasing pressure from climate change and nature loss. International conflict has pushed fertiliser costs up by around 40% since last year, while more frequent extreme weather events- highlighted by this summer's devastating wildfires across Europe- are making harvests increasingly vulnerable. Earlier this year, the Government's own National Security Assessment concluded that global biodiversity loss poses a direct threat to the UK's food supply. Together, these pressures are contributing to higher food prices, which are forecast to be 50% higher this November than at the start of the cost of living crisis.

The letter states that, Each new shock lands on a food system with less capacity to absorb it. British production of fruit and vegetables has fallen 16% since 2015, and we now import 78% of our supply. The next food shock is not a question of if, but when. To meet it prepared, food has to stop being an afterthought for the Government: we need mechanisms to put food high on the priority list of every part of government, both national and local, so that any decisions that impact on health, farming, planning, and trade secure better access to healthy and sustainable food for everyone.

The cost of doing nothing on this issue is already falling on those with the least resource, with food insecurity already affecting 15% of households with children. Economic pressures continue to push a healthy diet further out of reach for many, with the NHS then left to pick up the bill.

We also know that struggling families will often turn to cheaper, less healthy food and cut down on fruit and vegetables. The current annual cost of obesity in the UK alone is an estimated £126 billion (equivalent to around 3% of the UK's 2026 GDP), when accounting for the costs to the UK's National Health Service and social care, lost productivity, workforce inactivity and welfare payments.

Polling in April found the Good Food Bill has net public support of +72, consistent across every political affiliation, and the letter today shows clear support from food industry giants as well as investors, civil society, academia and the health sector.

In a 2024 interview Andy Burnham himself said that food policy is not a coherent whole. A Bill would give food policy that coherence and priority, as well as provide a stable policy environment for businesses and investors.

The letter states a Good Food Bill would place food policy on a statutory long-term footing for the first time and should:-

• Set legally binding targets to reduce childhood obesity, increase the consumption of fruit and vegetables and the proportion grown in Britain, and reduce household food insecurity;

• Require the Government to publish a Reference Diet, so that policy across departments works towards the same goals;

• Place a duty on Ministers to consider food in decisions across health, education, farming, planning, environment and trade;

• Require five-year Good Food Action Plans setting out how the targets will be met;

• Empower local leaders to have regard to food across their work to support local economies and reduce inequalities.

• Establish independent oversight to report annual progress publicly, so that commitments cannot be quietly dropped when priorities change.

Simon Roberts, Chief Executive at Sainsbury's, said: Recent weeks have shown just how much pressure our food system is under. We need a more resilient food system that attracts investment, backs British farmers and helps keep affordable, nutritious food on tables across the nation. Food and farming should be at the heart of government policy, helping to build a stronger and more resilient future. That's why we've signed the Good Food Bill. Through working together to drive the change we need across government, industry and communities, we can make sure everyone has access to good food for years to come.

Nigel Murray, CEO, Booths, said, "At Booths, we believe everyone should have access to good food, and that starts with a resilient food system that supports both customers and the farmers who produce it. The Good Food Bill is an opportunity to take a longer-term view of food security, strengthen British agriculture and help ensure that healthy, affordable food remains within reach for future generations."

Andrew Selley, CEO Bidfood said, As a foodservice wholesaler, we're all too familiar with the risks and challenges of resilient food supply, from our network of UK fruit and vegetable growers who are dealing firsthand with all the challenges outlined in this letter, to the price increases that are experienced by both our public and private sector customers. I would entirely agree with the Labour election manifesto that food security is national security', so for this and more reasons, Bidfood entirely supports the call for a Good Food Bill

Richard Hall, Vice President, General Secretary, Danone North Europe, "Poor diet, especially amongst children, is one of the biggest challenges facing the UK today. Addressing it will require Government, industry and civil society to work together on practical, evidence-based solutions. The Good Food Bill provides an important framework to improve public health while giving businesses the long-term certainty they need to invest and help deliver that change." 

Anna Taylor, Executive Director, The Food Foundation, said, The UK food system is dangerously exposed to shocks far beyond our borders. Over the last few years, we have seen this play out through rising food prices and increasing diet and health inequalities, with the price gap between healthy and less healthy food at the widest it's been for ovr a decade. At the same time farmers are struggling to make ends meet. What we need now is a Good Food Bill that sets out a long-term framework for building resilience in the UK food system one that holds successive governments to account and protects businesses, citizens and farmers alike.

Kath Dalmeny, Chief Executive, Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming, said, We are living through a period of profound change, yet we are still trying to feed the country with a mid twentieth-century food system built for a more stable world. Wars, a changing climate and the loss of the natural systems our food depends on are driving up prices, and it is families on the lowest incomes who are being hit the hardest. Food resilience can no longer sit at the bottom of the agenda. The breadth of support behind a Good Food Bill shows that it is time for a food and farming system built for the century we are actually in.

Blanche Shackleton, Interim Executive Director, Green Alliance said, "Every major shock of recent years has exposed the same weakness: we don't treat food as a strategic national priority. As climate change, nature loss and geopolitical instability place growing pressure on our food system, government needs a long-term plan that matches the scale of the challenge. A Good Food Bill would provide the framework to strengthen food security, support farmers and growers, and give everyone access to healthier, more sustainable food."