Food security on the menu at FŌDA 2026

For two days on the docks in Bristol, restaurateur Josh Eggleton will host operators and the public to discuss food security and our connection with the produce served in hospitality.

FŌDA, the festival of food ideas, takes place on 26-27 September at the Arnolfini in Bristol where, through masterclasses and a symposium of talks, the event aims to answer the question: can Britain feed itself?

Josh Eggleton, who along with Holly Eggleton was recognised with the This is Hospitality award at the 2026 Cateys for their work in the community, said: What we’re trying to do is educate ourselves with food ideas that protect the future. It’s not just about running a restaurant, it’s about where food comes from and overall sustainability.

“What I’m trying to do is build a positive food culture. I don’t stay in my lane. The world is complex and this is a complex issue which we should work on together.”

He added that all operators and chefs would be offered a 50% reduction on the £55 cost of the symposium.

The FŌDA Symposium, chaired by food writer Xanthe Clay, Sharpham Park founder Roger Saul and Josh Eggleton, has been built around themes of land, sea, forest and air, with each shining a light on a fundamental link in the chain of how the UK eats.

Highlights of the symposium include Riverford founder Guy Singh-Watson, Renee Elliott, founder of Planet Organic, and Natalie Gaibani, head of farming at Strutt & Parker, who will debate British farming, along with a discussion on the evolution of restaurants, with Eggleton joined by chefs Peter Sanchez-Iglesias and Gareth Ward.

Eggleton added: “Land, sea, forest, air. These aren’t abstract themes, they’re the four things every meal in this country actually depends on, and right now every one of them is under pressure. If FŌDA is good for anything, it’s making people who’d never normally sit in the same room talk to each other; farmers, fishermen, chefs, scientists, writers, campaigners. That’s how the good ideas turn up.”