Small-scale farmers and food activists will converge in London to rally for a legally enshrined 'Right to Food', as well as sweeping reform of the UK’s farming systems.
The protest aims to spotlight the voices of those often excluded from policymaking, including small-scale farmers, migrant labourers and low-income communities.
Central to their demands is a ‘Right to Food’ — a legal commitment to ensure that everyone has access to affordable and sustainable food, regardless of income, immigration status or geographic location.
The protest, titled ‘Food In Our Hands’, will start on Saturday (26 April) and is being organised by over 20 groups, including the Landworkers' Alliance and Sustain, which represent smaller and ecological farmers.
The rally comes at a pivotal moment, with the Land Use Framework for England closing for consultation on 25 April, and both a National Food Strategy and a 25-Year Farming Roadmap in development.
The backdrop is increasingly fraught, as farmers face economic strain following the abrupt closure of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) scheme last month.
There are also growing fears that an impending UK-US trade deal could open the floodgates to lower-standard imports, undercutting domestic producers.
Activists from the organisations, which include Pesticide Action Network UK and the Real Farming Trust, also criticise recent protests led by the NFU.
They argue that they have focused too narrowly on inheritance tax — dubbed the 'family farm tax' — which was announced in the autumn budget last October.
The groups also criticise Reform UK for turning up at these demonstrations by "waving their signs in front of tractors" to "whip up anti-immigration sentiment".
Protestors say that their rally this weekend will aim to reflect the diversity of those impacted by the UK’s "fractured" food system.
Participants will include small farmers "struggling to survive" amid supermarket price wars, as well as migrant workers "facing exploitation" through schemes like the seasonal worker visa.
Activists are calling for a set of bold government interventions, including a significantly increased budget for nature-friendly farming across all four nations.
They want the implementation of a National Food Strategy for England that includes ambitious public procurement targets, support for localised food production, and prioritises nutritious food in collaboration with the Ministry of Health.
Campaigners are also urging the government to guarantee fair and secure incomes for farmers and farmworkers, including piloting a basic income scheme for farm workers.
Speaking about the protest, spokesperson Jyoti Fernandes says: “Farmers have been discontent with recent policy changes, and have been turning up in tractors to protest against the removal of inheritance tax relief.
"It’s been exciting to see farmers mobilising at this scale. What has been disturbing to see is Reform UK turning up at the demos, waving their signs in front of tractors.
"We can’t let these figures divert us from protecting our domestic food security and demanding the right policies to guarantee healthy, affordable, sustainable food for everyone."
The protest will begin at 1pm on Saturday (26 April) at Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, and will then march to Defra, passing the Home Office along the way.
