The Prince’s Foundation launches food education programme to champion sustainability and help tackle food waste

Pilot programme developed in partnership with Jamie Oliver and Jimmy Doherty.

The Prince’s Foundation today announced the launch of a unique food education programme which aims to champion sustainability and combat food waste by giving young people a greater understanding of how the food system works, how it impacts the environment and how to better champion sustainable practices.

Developed in partnership with Jamie Oliver, Jimmy Doherty and The Soil Association, the Food For The Future programme will be piloted at the charity’s Dumfries House headquarters in East Ayrshire, starting this month, and will initially include 48 pupils from four participating secondary schools - with an aspiration for it to eventually be rolled out nationally.

Over the course of the programme, which will run throughout the academic year, pupils will have the opportunity to learn from experts in farming and cooking, including Jimmy Doherty and Jamie Oliver. The programme will engage pupils in hands-on horticulture and farming activity, including industry visits and the opportunity to explore the inner workings of factories and meeting rare breeds of animals like those reared on Jimmy’s farm. They will also be given the opportunity to improve their skills and confidence in the kitchen with Jamie Oliver’s expertise in food education to guide them. The programme will help equip students with the right skills to prepare a range of seasonal, nutritious dishes while minimising food waste by using ingredients creatively to make every dish go further.

Food For The Future has been developed as part of The Prince’s Foundation’s wider Making Food Go Further initiative. The launch of the programme comes at a vital time for the environment, when limiting food waste plays a key role in reducing household carbon emissions. A staggering 70 per cent of all food wasted in the UK stems from within the home and, for each of us, the food we eat accounts for about 25 per cent of our greenhouse gas footprint. Currently 1.3 billion tonnes of food are wasted every year around the globe — around a third of all food produced — and tackling food waste offers the opportunity to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by up to 10 per cent.

Food For The Future is funded by Sainsbury’s, Richemont, and the players of The People’s Postcode Lottery. The programme is also supported by Hellmann’s, who are committed to reducing food waste and whose recent behavioural change study conducted in Canada provided invaluable insights on the reduction of household food waste, and who helped co-produce a film about the ambition of this initiative. The film can be viewed below and shared here.

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Jacqueline Farrell, education director for The Prince’s Foundation at Dumfries House, said: “Sustainability and nature-based learning are the common thread that runs through all the education programmes delivered by The Prince’s Foundation. Through our programme Food For The Future, we hope to inspire young people to think about food and waste in a completely different way. After immersing them in the practical process and science related to food production systems from the ground up, we will challenge them to come up with their own sustainable solutions to tackling food waste before providing them with the support needed to become food champions at home, at school and in their communities.”

Jamie Oliver said: “Understanding where food comes from, how it’s grown and the impact it has on communities and the planet is so vital in helping us better understand how the food choices we make can have a positive impact on the planet.

Combining food education and sustainability is really unique to this programme, and I have developed a series of recipes, tips and hacks to show the kids taking part how to make their food go further so they can limit food waste at home - which is not only good for the planet but it’s good for the wallet too.”

Jimmy Doherty said: “Tackling food waste has never been more important than it is right now, which is why I’m proud to be collaborating with The Prince’s Foundation, Jamie Oliver and The Soil Association on this very exciting education project.

We all have a part to play in reducing food waste - whether that be through individuals making more informed choices, supermarkets choosing to stock food with a longer shelf life or demonstrating good modelling in terms of sustainable farming and growing practices through programmes like Food For The Future.”

Sarah Gowanlock, The Soil Association’s project manager for community food hubs and programme adaptation, said: “We have just completed a six month research project on community food hubs which has shown there is clear potential for schools to engage more and to help increase access to healthy and sustainable food as well as developing cooking and growing skills in the local community. As a result, we’re delighted to support The Prince’s Foundation’s Food for the Future programme through the Making Food Go Further partnership to inspire and educate pupils about food and sustainability and empower them to make positive change in their own lives, their schools, and their local food system.”

The Prince’s Foundation provides holistic solutions to challenges facing the world today. It champions a sustainable approach to how we live our lives and build our communities, runs a diverse programme of education and training for all ages and backgrounds, and regenerates and cares for places where communities thrive and that visitors enjoy. The charity works nationally and internationally but at the heart of the organisation is the heritage-led regeneration of the Dumfries House estate and its wider community, where its principles and philosophies are explored and put into practice.

To celebrate the launch, HRH The Prince of Wales, President of The Prince’s Foundation, attended an event at Dumfries House where he met TV presenters and farmers Jimmy and Michaela Doherty, and teachers and pupils from Ardrossan Academy, The Robert Burns Academy, Wallace Hall Academy and Glasgow school St Thomas Aquinas, who are participating in the pilot.

For more information on The Prince’s Foundation, email media@princes-foundation.org.