“The Food Ethics Council is unafraid to take on the sticky issues, forging new insights, and building consensus for action.”
Sue Pritchard, Chief Executive, Food, Farming and Countryside Commission
The Food Ethics Council is evolving and sharpening its focus in a rapidly changing world. We are building on over 25 years of experience and adapting to make sure we use our skills, expertise and network to best effect. Here is how we see the challenge, what we want to achieve and what our role is.
THE CHALLENGE
Many food systems fuel injustices, harm nature and marginalise people. Food should nourish communities and ecosystems, but current models normalise exploitation, accelerate climate breakdown and leave one in five people in the UK food insecure. This isn’t just a food problem – it’s an ethics crisis.
OUR VISION AND MISSION
Our vision is for a world where farmers and food producers make a decent living, animals are treated humanely, the environment is respected and everyone has access to affordable, good food.
Our mission is to put people, animals and the planet at the heart of every food decision. We challenge power, shift narratives and unite changemakers to make food systems in the UK fair for all. Change food, change the world.
What is OUR CONTRIBUTION?
Why us? The Food Ethics Council always asks where the power is, who benefits, who bears the risk, and how it affects others, ecosystems and future generations. We ask the hard questions others won’t or can’t.
Our contribution is:
- Asking deeper questions about power, risk and impact
- Creating trusted spaces for difficult conversations that build capacity for more ethical change
- Connecting diverse changemakers to build collective capabilities (power) and develop ‘in the round’ solutions
- Shifting narratives from symptoms and quick fixes to root causes
“The Food Ethics Council has been instrumental in facilitating difficult but important conversations about contested or controversial issues within the food system. They are hugely respected within the ecosystem of Food NGOs…”
Who we are
We are a think-tank and charity that provide independent advice on the ethics of food and farming. We are experts on fairness and sustainability in food and farming, and a leader on ethical food issues. We consider things ‘in the round’ by looking at the food system as a whole – this means considering the wider impacts of our food and farming systems on people, animals and the planet. We take the long-term view and believe in tackling root causes rather than treating symptoms.
Our work is not for profit. We value our independence and are not affiliated to any political party or religious organisation. Openness and collaboration are central to our work, and we bring people together from across farming, business, NGOs, grassroots community groups, academia, policy and the public, to hold honest, productive conversations and collectively find a way through the multiple, complex crises we face.
You can read our reflections on 2024-25 HERE.
“The thing I most value about the Food Ethics Council is their ability to get the food movement – myself included – to think differently about difficult topics. Whether through resources, workshops or webinars, they have a unique ability to reframe complex problems in ways that make the impossible seem possible.”