Sustainable healthy food

During 2025, we will be launching a suite of resources to support teaching and learning around sustainable healthy food.

Sustainable food is good for the planet and for us. This takes into account not only the environment, but also nutrition, and socio-economic factors such as affordability and accessibility.

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Below you will find new resources for pupils aged 5-7 years, 11-14 years and 14-16 years. We will be launching a range of resources for pupils aged 3-5 years and 7-11 years over the next few weeks.  Remember to check back regularly! 

The government’s sustainability and climate change strategy (updated December 2023) states that all children and young people should learn about the natural environment, including the importance of sustainability. Food and nutrition, particularly at GCSE or equivalent level, has been identified as providing opportunities for pupils to be taught about the environment and sustainability, in context.

Educating children and young people about sustainability through the context of food and nutrition helps them understand the environmental impact of food production while encouraging actions like reducing waste and eating seasonally. It equips them with life skills, including meal planning and critical thinking, to make informed, ethical, and health-conscious decisions that support both local and global communities. This knowledge prepares pupils to address future challenges, contribute to sustainable practices, and act as responsible citizens.

If you are looking for CPD around sustainability in the context of food and nutrition, you will find a number of Food - a fact of life webinar recordings and conference presentations in the planning and teaching and teacher knowledge and skills pages of the Professional development area. 

The key learning objectives/intent around sustainable healthy food, for each age phase, are:

• Some foods can be good for us and the planet. (3-5 years)
• Sustainable food is good for the planet and for us. (5-7 years)
• Sustainable, healthy food is good for the planet and our health. (7-11 years)
• Sustainable healthy diets are good for the planet and human health. They should balance nutrition, environmental sustainability and socio-economic factors, e.g. affordability. (11-14 years)
• Sustainable healthy diets are good for the planet and human health. They should balance nutrition and environmental sustainability with socio-economic factors, e.g. affordability, accessibility and cultural acceptability. (14-16 years)

For each age phase, you will find a comprehensive presentation for pupils covering the main factors that make up a sustainable healthy diet, for example nutrition and health, environmental impact, affordability, accessibility, cultural acceptability and safety.

The presentation can be used in its entirety, or you can use the hyperlinks to choose the slides most relevant to the particular focus of your teaching and learning around sustainable healthy food. There are a few short questions at the end of each section, with answers on the next slide, to check for understanding. 

There are also a variety of different pupil activities which support different learning styles, encourage independent learning and are suitable for individual, class or group work. These include pick and mix activities, role plays, research tasks and worksheets to check recall and understanding.