By ProVeg International
ProVeg UK, a non-profit organisation reviving school food, has launched a new programme this week called Canteen to Classroom to educate UK children about the health and environmental impact of the food they eat.
According to UNICEF, nine out of 10 children are worried about climate change, with 89% of children saying they don’t feel enough is being done to tackle the climate crisis, and 81% feeling that they are not being listened to.
Canteen to Classroom seeks to empower children to make climate-friendly dietary choices at both school and home through the provision of high-quality, evidence-based lessons developed specifically for primary schools.
“Children today care deeply about the climate crisis and, in my experience, they want to know how they can make a difference. The food we eat is a super place to start. Educating children on the impact of their food choices is essential in nurturing future generations who are both health and environmentally conscious,” said Martin Skingley, Education Manager at ProVeg UK, and previously a teacher of 16 years.
“Through our School Plates programme, we realised we were making huge positive changes in the canteen, but hadn’t prepared any resources to directly support children in understanding the importance of these changes. Education was the missing piece.
“Plant-based foods have numerous benefits and our programme for children in Foundation Stage right up to Key Stage 2 celebrates these in an engaging and informative way, making it easier for them to make choices and take actions that are good for themselves and good for the planet,” Skingley added.
Image credits: Monkey Business
Evidence-based lessons
The programme is made up of 24 specially-made, evidence-based lesson plans with engaging lesson presentations, and additional resources aimed at saving teachers and education providers precious time and effort.
The lessons adhere to the national curriculum in England and provide a well-rounded view of healthy and sustainable eating. Lessons do not need to be taught sequentially and can be delivered as stand-alone sessions, as a half-term block, or as a way of supporting and enhancing themed weeks or special learning days.
“We know that school timetables are already tight, so we have created ‘ready-to-go’ lessons that can fit in and around what schools already do. And, all of this we provide for free,” Skingley said.
The new initiative complements ProVeg’s hugely successful School Plates programme that has been running since 2018, and currently works with major catering partners across the UK. The non-profit has helped turn tens of millions of school dinners meat-free or plant-based while developing tasty, nutritious, and sustainable menus.
The Department for Education has set a target for all schools in England to have a climate action plan in place by 2025. The programme can work in tandem and help educational settings achieve sustainability goals so that planning becomes action. Involving children, young people and learners is imperative to inspire their enthusiasm to help drive positive change and enable them to share their knowledge in their local communities.
All Canteen to Classroom lesson plans are available to download for free here.
More about the Canteen to Classroom programme
The programme will seek to further a number of different but closely connected goals. These include the following:
Experiencing, celebrating, and having fun tasting fruit, vegetables, and other plant-based foods.
Understanding the health benefits and importance of eating more plants and plant-based foods.
Gaining a greater awareness of food waste and the ways that we can feed our increasing population nutritiously and sustainably.
Increasing knowledge of where our food comes from and how it ends up on our plates.
Assessing the impact of making sustainable food choices.
Empowering children to make informed choices about food and the positive steps they can take in their own lives, as well as that of the community and the planet.
Engaging the next generation in debates around big topics such as the future of our planet and climate change.
Developing cross-curricular skills, including: data handling and analysis; debating; geography skills such as exploring land use; using search technologies effectively in computing; science through nutrition, plants, and animal classification; using art creatively; cooking and nutrition within design and technology; and even taking part in team games and being active during PE.
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