Executive Summary - preview:

• The evidence received by the Right To Food UK Commission paints a deeply worrying and at times heartbreaking picture of everyday life for many communities across the UK.

• Acute food insecurity has reached crisis levels, affecting more than 14 million people in 2026 (as measured by Trussell), a number which continues to rise.

• In the hundreds of community sessions we ran, people up and down the country told the Commission that food insecurity cannot be understood as simply a food issue, caused by rising prices.

• It is part of a wider affordability crisis that will worsen without urgent state action.

• This sentiment was echoed by experts across government, civil society and academia.

Evidence Gathering:

• The Commission was established to gather the evidence and to provide a roadmap to end hunger and food insecurity in the UK by 2035.

• Evidence to support the roadmap was gathered through:

  • review of existing government policies and plans,

  • review of published reports from NGOs and third sector organisations focused on food poverty,

  • taking evidence from experts in the field,

  • listening to people who are either currently living with food insecurity or who have in the past been food insecure, or who worked with groups trying to address and ameliorate the effects of food insecurity,

  • consultation with people in work and living on social security, and

  • calling for submissions from interested parties.