Article by
Frances Meek
Education Services Manager, British Nutrition Foundation
Whitepaper published today: Food education - the missing ingredient in a healthier, more sustainable future.
Food education has a vital role to play in supporting children's health and wellbeing, developing practical life skills, improving food literacy and inspiring future careers across the food and farming sector. Yet despite its importance, food education is often overlooked within wider discussions about education, public health, sustainability and economic growth.
Published at a time of curriculum reform and renewed focus on children's health, school food and food insecurity, this whitepaper explores the current state of food education across the UK. Drawing on evidence, policy analysis and insights from experts across education, nutrition and food systems, it examines the challenges facing schools and teachers and highlights the opportunities that improving food education could bring.
The report aims to stimulate discussion and support collaboration between policymakers, educators, industry and other stakeholders to ensure all children and young people have the food knowledge, skills and confidence they need for healthier and more sustainable futures. It also reflects the British Nutrition Foundation's long-standing commitment to food education through its flagship education programme, Food – a fact of life, which has been supporting learning about healthy eating, cooking and where food comes from in UK schools for more than 30 years.
Key findings
The whitepaper highlights growing challenges including poor diet and obesity, food insecurity, declining cooking skills, nutrition misinformation on social media and skills shortages across the agri-food sector. It argues that food education can help address each of these issues, but that delivery is currently fragmented and lacks clear progression routes for many young people.
The report also identifies pressures facing schools and teachers, including recruitment challenges, rising ingredient costs, limited curriculum time and unequal access to specialist facilities and training.
To strengthen food education and maximise its impact, the whitepaper calls for action across policy, education and industry. Recommendations include embedding food education within prevention and health policy, treating food literacy with the same importance as digital and financial literacy, funding practical food education, strengthening inspection and accountability, improving progression pathways and supporting the recruitment and development of specialist teachers.
The whitepaper calls for food education to be recognised as a strategic priority that supports health, education, sustainability and economic growth. Its recommendations focus on eight key areas:
- Recognise and integrate food education within prevention policy by explicitly linking it to childhood obesity, diet-related disease, mental health and health inequalities.
- Fund practical food education, including ingredients and equipment, so schools can deliver hands-on learning without relying on parental contributions.
- Protect food education from further marginalisation, including strengthening progression pathways by ensuring food education has clear routes beyond age 14, including post-16 qualifications and consideration of a Food A Level in England.
- Strengthen monitoring, inspection and accountability for food education, with stronger inspection, oversight and support to help ensure high-quality food education is available to all pupils.
- Embed food education within school food and whole-school health policy by connecting it with school food standards, breakfast clubs, holiday provision and healthy school environments.
- Treat food literacy with equal importance to digital, media and financial literacy, recognising it as a core life skill.
- Link food education to sustainability and food systems policy, supporting progress towards net zero, sustainable consumption and promotion of local food systems.
- Connect food education with the workforce, skills, and economic growth, supporting pathways into the UK's agri-food sector and helping address workforce skills shortages.
The British Nutrition Foundation hopes this whitepaper will help stimulate discussion and support collaboration between policymakers, educators, industry and other stakeholders to ensure all children and young people develop the food knowledge, skills and confidence they need for healthier and more sustainable futures.
About the British Nutrition Foundation
Connecting people, food and science for better nutrition and healthier lives
The British Nutrition Foundation is a charity that strives to prevent diet-related illness and promote health and wellbeing through evidence-based nutrition science. It provides a bridge between nutrition science, government, industry, healthcare, education and people, and is a conduit to a healthier, more sustainable food environment for all.
The British Nutrition Foundation’s team is made up of highly qualified and experienced nutrition scientists and educators who work to disseminate evidence-based peer reviewed research findings which: support industry strategy and healthy, sustainable product innovation; inform government policy and regulations; and help people build their knowledge, skills and confidence in making positive, food and lifestyle choices to help prevent illness and disease and promote health and wellbeing.
We safeguard our independence through robust governance, with an independent Board supported by an Advisory Committee and a Scientific Committee, both of which draw upon a broad range of experts from academia, government, industry, and public life. Our governance is weighted towards the scientific community, universities, and research institutes, and those from education, finance, media, communications, and HR backgrounds.
Funding for the British Nutrition Foundation is from membership subscriptions; donations; project grants from food producers and manufacturers, retailers and food service companies; conferences; publications, training, trusts, and foundations. The British Nutrition Foundation is not a lobbying organisation, nor does it endorse any products or engage in food advertising campaigns.
More details about the British Nutrition Foundation’s work, funding and governance can be found here.
Share this page