Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to empower local community initiatives, farms, and schools to implement practical food and nature education; and how her Department is measuring their impact.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The food strategy recognises the key role that regional and local food systems can play in supporting delivery of the growth, health, sustainability, and food security/ resilience outcomes. Defra wants to create an environment that champions UK food cultures and celebrates British food. Connecting local communities can be a key vehicle for achieving this outcome and for harnessing a stronger food culture. As we develop the food strategy, we will be considering how we can better support local and place-based initiatives, to deliver the changes needed to deliver our outcomes. The Government will consider the approach to monitoring and evaluation as we develop the outcomes and delivery mechanisms.

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what dedicated funding streams exist across Departments to support food, nature, and sustainability education.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)

The majority of grant schemes administered by the department relate to Food or Nature outcomes, with grant funding being the primary funding stream used to support these outcomes.

Details of all Defra grant schemes are recorded on the Government Grants Information System (GGIS), in line with cross‑government transparency requirements.

Government grants data and statistics are published annually by the Cabinet Office in Official Statistics and are publicly available. These statistics include the full Defra portfolio.

The most recent publication covers Financial Year 2023/24, and is available on GOV.UK, at the following link: Government grants data and statistics - GOV.UK.
Data for Financial Year 2024/25 will be published later this year.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how her Department is ensuring that early year’s provision includes learning about food, soil, biodiversity, and ecosystems.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The statutory Early Years Foundation Stage framework (EYFS) sets the education requirements for all early years settings. The EYFS provides a curriculum framework for settings to build upon across seven areas of learning, to ensure every child has the best start in life and is prepared for school.

The department provides a range of resources to support practitioners with promoting children’s learning about the natural world around them, including the Development Matters curriculum guidance, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/development-matters--2.

Further resources can be found through the Help for Early Years Providers site, accessible at: https://help-for-early-years-providers.education.gov.uk/. Practitioners may also refer to the free, quality assured climate, nature and environmental education resources on the National Education Nature Park website: https://www.educationnaturepark.org.uk/resources.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to align apprenticeship standards, T Levels, and other vocational qualifications with future food system needs.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The government is strengthening technical education so that young people can gain practical skills in areas such as regenerative farming, agroecology, and sustainable horticulture. This includes a range of apprenticeships in agriculture, environmental and animal care sector such as crop technician.

Land-based colleges and institutes of technology offer applied learning experience with employer designed standards increasingly embedding regenerative and agroecological practices. Land based T Levels and technical qualifications include opportunities for hands on learning in soil health, sustainable crop production, biodiversity, and low-impact land management.

Skills England works with employers to embed real world regenerative and agroecological practices in relevant occupational and apprenticeship standards to ensure they meet ongoing skills needs.

Local Skills Improvement Plans help guide providers to match training with the priority skills needs, which include those related to agriculture and land-based industries.

Together, these measures create a strong pipeline of young people equipped for careers in regenerative, low carbon land-based sectors.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how her Department is ensuring that young people gain practical, vocational skills in regenerative farming, agroecology, and sustainable horticulture.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

The government is strengthening technical education so that young people can gain practical skills in areas such as regenerative farming, agroecology, and sustainable horticulture. This includes a range of apprenticeships in agriculture, environmental and animal care sector such as crop technician.

Land-based colleges and institutes of technology offer applied learning experience with employer designed standards increasingly embedding regenerative and agroecological practices. Land based T Levels and technical qualifications include opportunities for hands on learning in soil health, sustainable crop production, biodiversity, and low-impact land management.

Skills England works with employers to embed real world regenerative and agroecological practices in relevant occupational and apprenticeship standards to ensure they meet ongoing skills needs.

Local Skills Improvement Plans help guide providers to match training with the priority skills needs, which include those related to agriculture and land-based industries.

Together, these measures create a strong pipeline of young people equipped for careers in regenerative, low carbon land-based sectors.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to embed practical food, nature, and sustainability education across the national curriculum from EYFS to post-16, including T Levels.

Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)

The current national curriculum includes these topics, and there is a food preparation and nutrition GCSE, and science and geography are available at GCSE and A level.

In response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review, the department will enhance the identity of food education by clearly distinguishing cooking and nutrition, which will be renamed food and nutrition, as a distinct subject within design and technology.

The department will also enhance the focus on climate education and sustainability that already exists in subjects such as geography, science, and citizenship. We will also include sustainability within design and technology.

The national curriculum will be taught in academies when it is implemented.

At post-16, the department is continuing to support adults to retrain and reskill in line with the needs of the green economy. We have a range of qualifications for older learners that provide training in green skills including apprenticeships, T levels, Skills Bootcamps and higher technical qualifications.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to help tackle inequalities in access to healthy, minimally processed food through education.

Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)

The national curriculum aims to teach children how to cook and how to apply the principles of healthy eating and nutrition. In response to the Curriculum and Assessment Review, the department has set out that we will enhance the identity of food education by clearly distinguishing cooking and nutrition, which will be renamed food and nutrition, as a distinct strand within design and technology.

The updated relationships, sex and health education statutory guidance includes content on healthy eating. Pupils are taught what constitutes a healthy diet, the principles of planning and preparing a range of healthy meals, the characteristics of a poor diet and risks associated with unhealthy eating.

The School Food Standards regulate the food and drink provided at both lunchtime and at other times of the school day. We aim to revise the School Food Standards and are engaging with stakeholders to ensure they support our work to create the healthiest generation of children in history.

From September 2026, we will extend free school meals to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit. This will ensure that over 500,000 additional children receive a free and nutritious lunchtime meal.