Teaching and learning about food

Schools are in a unique position to help children and young people understand and enjoy good food and develop practical life skills. What schools teach about food, the food they serve at break and lunchtime, the messages children hear about food all of this helps create a school's food culture.

Children and young people learn and behave better if they are well fed and food can be used as a way of teaching about a broad range of issues. It is important to learn about what is a good diet but food education goes much wider covering life skills like cooking and social issues such as learning about the environment and animal welfare. Schools help create the consumers of the future and can help create young people's expectations about the sort of food they would like to eat. Children and young people need to gain skills around shopping and cooking that they will need to succeed as they grow up.

We'd like all schools in Brighton & Hove to offer hands on, experiential food learning – from cooking and growing to education about food systems, fair trade and farming. The resources here combine national and local information of use to teachers, teaching assistants, governors, parents and others involved in the school community.