Schools and Parents - Food
Barking and Dagenham Council is working with a network of local primary and secondary schools, further education providers and food and hospitality industry partners to improve food education and training – supporting people to understand career pathways in the food sector and develop positive food cultures and skills.
Food Education in Schools
Our school food programmes encourage a ‘whole-school’ approach to food and support wider strategic goals for schools, from tackling social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) difficulties and improving physical health and wellbeing, to building cultural capital and meeting the Gatsby benchmarks for good careers education.
We are also working with local teachers, specialists, and food industry partners to develop a codesigned food education programme in primary and secondary schools:
Active Food Programmes
We run three food education programmes in local secondary and primary schools:
Careers in food
We are supporting teachers and young people to understand pathways into good jobs and careers in food through interactive workshops, inspiring careers events and work-related learning opportunities.
Our seafood cooking workshops sessions at Billingsgate wholesale fish market for schools are very popular, offering students vocational training with expert chefs above London’s historic wholesale market.
Food education innovation
We offer continuous professional development for local teachers to implement innovative approaches to food education.
This includes work to adapt the food technology curriculum to make it more relevant to the borough’s diverse communities, as well as cross-curricular opportunities to use food to reinforce themes within science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) and personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education.
Food Growing, Enterprise and Sustainability
We are working with School Food Matters to offer local schools programmes that blend food growing and enterprise.
During these expert-led programmes, students learn the basics of food growing through visits to working farms, eventually selling their school-grown produce at Barking Market. They develop skills in both food-growing and enterprise, as well as better understanding of food provenance and interest in trying new foods.
Contact
Contact goodfood@lbbd.gov.uk if you would like to find out more about the latest opportunities for schools or sign up for our termly newsletter.
Testimonials
Further Education and Training
We are working with Barking and Dagenham College to develop a new food school for East London that celebrates different world food cultures, attracts new talent into good jobs in the food industry, and supports a more innovative, inclusive and sustainable food system.
The project is working with industry and training partners including the City of London, Billingsgate Seafood School and Sustainable Kitchen Consultants.
In autumn 2025, the College will launch a new training restaurant at its central Barking campus. The enhanced food and hospitality curriculum will embed knowledge of London’s diverse global food cultures and sustainable food sourcing, preparation and menu development.
To find out about current food and hospitality training at Barking and Dagenham College, visit their website:
Modern industry food training
In partnership with sustainability experts Sustainable Kitchen Consultants, the project is piloting new bite-sized industry courses to help food businesses to understand and take action to meet Net Zero targets and regulations by reducing food-related waste and emissions.
The modules are available to businesses now on a bespoke basis and can be adapted to work for new entrants or existing managers and staff in the food sector.
Modules include:
- Introduction to Sustainability for Food sector – specific modules for both senior management and operations teams
- Navigating the Sustainability Regulatory Landscape – current and emerging legislation
- Developing and Implementing Sustainable Sourcing Strategies and Sustainability Communication Strategies for Food Businesses
- Sustainable Recipe and Menu Development – improve practical skills in a wide range of plant-based, health promoting cooking techniques that draw on global traditions, using local produce and managing food waste.
- Introduction to Regenerative Agriculture for Food Businesses and On-Farm Immersive Training – building deep understanding of sustainability from farm to fork
A hybrid option will be launched in the new year, delivered through a combination of online and in-person practical sessions.
Contact Sustainable Kitchen Consultants to access this training or find out more about their bespoke consultancy services.
"The children have got so much out of [the Know Your Onions programme]. The students have got really into gardening and because we've invested time in it it's now becoming part of the curriculum."
Teacher Trinity Special School, 2023