Hungry for Change: Why Food Education Can’t Wait

Today we’re proud to share Hungry for Change, a new national report that echoes what we hear every day from young people, parents and teachers: food education isn’t a nice‑to‑have. It’s a life skill every child deserves.

Drawing on polling from more than 2,000 parents and 2,000 young people, the findings are both powerful and deeply familiar. Almost all parents (97%) and the vast majority of young people (91%) believe that cooking and making good food choices are essential for independence and wellbeing. Yet fewer than half of young people receive dedicated curriculum time for food education, and access drops sharply as they get older. Children from lower‑income families and state comprehensive schools are consistently those missing out the most. 

At Best Food Forward, we see these first-hand that when food education is embedded across school life; when pupils can Learn it, See it and Live it, the impact is profound. Young people grow in confidence. They feel connected. They discover joy in food, culture and shared experiences. But when provision is fragmented or surface‑level, those opportunities disappear.

This report makes the case clearly: if we want the investment in school meals and breakfast clubs to create lasting change, high‑quality food education must sit alongside it. That means making food a core subject, appointing specialist food education leads, and restoring clear pathways like Food A‑level to open doors into food careers.

As ever, our focus is simple, ensuring every young person can access meaningful, practical food learning that builds skills for life. Hungry for Change offers a national lens on the challenges we see locally, but it also presents a hopeful, evidence‑rich roadmap for what comes next.

You can read the full report here: www.bestfoodforward.co.uk/hungry-for-change-report