Food — a fact of life

Abstract

Summary For the past three years the British Nutrition Foundation has been developing a food and nutrition programme for use in schools. The aim is to provide a framework f o r teaching food and nutrition across the whole curriculum from age 5 to 16. The development of this programme to date has been made possible due to the financial support from The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF), The All Saints Education Trust and some BNF member companies. During the Spring of 1991 the resource materials for Key stage 1 (age 5–7 years) were trialled successfully in twenty‐nine Local Education Authorities in England, Scotland and Wales. MAFF has provided further funding f o r the development and trial of Key stage 2 materials. The Foundation intends to develop and produce materials for Key stages 3 and 4 during the next three years and we believe that this programme will make a significant contribution to nutrition education in UK schools.

Food education – let’s go back to the future

“…Welcome to this virtual Issue of Nutrition Bulletin, which not only celebrates the 30 th anniversary of the British Nutrition Foundation's food and nutrition education programme for schools, Food -a fact of life, but also seeks to look forward to the future of food education in the UK. This issue brings together a collection of articles which give the background to the British Nutrition Foundation's longstanding interest in food and nutrition education (Ballam, 2018(Ballam, , 2020Fine, 1992Fine, , 1993Fine, , 1995Meek, 2016;Schneider & Theobald, 2016;Theobald, 2006;Theobald & Rowcliffe, 2010;Valentine, 1997;Weichselbaum & Buttriss, 2014;White, 2021).…”

“…While Food -a fact of life was formally launched in 1991, its origins started in 1988 when an advisory group was formed to develop a food and nutrition teaching framework for pupils aged 5 to 16 years (Fine, 1992). Funding was received from the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food (MAFF) government department and supported by others, such as the All Saints Educational Trust.…”

“…However, on its journey it has been important to ascertain its impact on teaching and learning. For example, in the early stages, pre-and post-pupil knowledge was assessed after use of the packs in schools (Fine, 1992), with promising results. More detailed impact assessment has been carried out more recently, including exploring the acceptability and feasibility of teaching kits (i.e.…”

Food for thought: Does the Food—a fact of life website benefit food and nutrition teaching in the UK?

“…FFL is managed by the BNF, currently in partnership with the Agriculture & Horticulture Development Board (AHDB). Originally launched in 1991 (Fine, 1992), FFL became a website in 2004 for primary school‐aged pupils, and from 2005 was extended to cover children aged 3–5 years and pupils aged 11–16 years. FFL provides free resources for teaching young people aged 3–16 years about where food comes from, cooking and healthy eating, alongside an extensive teacher professional development programme (Food – a fact of life, 2021a).…”