Our Response

The Country Trust’s response was a call for greater emphasis on food and ecological literacy to help address key issues such as rising obesity, poor mental health and ecological crises by equipping all children with the foundational knowledge to build a more sustainable and healthier future.

We have been energised by the conversation and energy within the networks that we belong to. We are proud to have shared our own work for others to use within their own responses as well as benefitting from others who took the same approach (particularly The Food Education Network and NFU). We were also delighted to partner with Sorted Food in developing a survey which was shared with their incredible community. The statistics and thoughts that came from this work added such a rich voice to our evidence.  

 
What we mean by Food Literacy? 

• Grow, harvest, prepare and cook food from scratch and begin to understand how it sustains us. 
• Begin to understand that the food system - from farm to fork - is complex, and what we eat shapes the world we live in. 
• Develop the building blocks for children to start making decisions that support their health and the health of the planet, with consideration to the environmental, social, economic, cultural, and political context. 

What we mean by Ecological Literacy (also known as Eco Literacy)?  

• The ability to feel curious, connected and confident in the natural world. 
• Build a foundational understanding of nature’s role and importance for growing the food we eat. 
• Support the development of critical thinking skills and practices needed to navigate, engage, and participate in our changing ecological world. 

We also call on the government to ensure real-world learning is a key component of knowledge and skills acquisition and retention; in addition, providing joyful and memorable ways for children to learn outside of the classroom. 

What do we mean by real-world learning?

• Embedding a concept, idea or skill through practical, hands-on application such as growing and cooking food in school or visiting a real working farm and seeing, first-hand how farmers grow food. 
• Ensuring that all children have the opportunity to experience real-world learning, overcoming the barriers to participation due to poverty or circumstance.  

At The Country Trust we believe that a National Curriculum for the modern world should ensure that: 

• Every child understands that beneath their feet and all around them is a miraculous life support system.  
• Every child understands that producing the food we eat directly affects that system.  
• Every child understands that they are influential and that through their actions they could make a positive difference to their own wellbeing and that of the planet.  

 

This is just the beginning... 

Our hope is that this is the start of conversation that brings together partners from across the sector along with DEFRA and the Department for Education to help build a brand-new curriculum, one that equips all learners with the knowledge, skills and life experiences that help them to create a more sustainable future for everyone.  
 
Do you agree? Tell us!