Food education opportunities within primary school curriculums

A range of policy levers, including school food education is required to transform food systems to enable populations to eat sustainably. Childhood is a pivotal life stage when healthy eating habits, cooking skills and sustainability behaviours that track into adulthood are developed. Schools are considered the best place to not only shifting societal norms about food through wider school food culture, but also for formal food education as part of mandatory national curriculums. This study aimed to examine primary school curriculums around the world against a Food Literacy framework. Food Literacy is a comprehensive approach to food education, reflective of food systems that recently has developed to include social, cultural food topics and sustainability alongside traditional food skills and knowledge. Full national curriculums from 11 countries, predominately from the global north were analysed using content analysis. Analysis revealed all countries to have a specific food education curriculum, that took either a health or skills perspective. Food Literacy was also addressed through non-food curriculums such as science. Curriculums focus on traditional food and nutrition topics, and significantly less on social-cultural, equity, and sustainability issues. Results from some countries highlight the potential for mandatory primary school curriculums to provide children with a broad food systems education, that could not only equip them with the skills and knowledge they need to live healthy sustainable lives. But an early food systems education, could sow the seed for food careers within future sustainable food systems.