Good Food Nation - programme of measures: 2019 update

3. Knowledge

Vision

The vision is for Scots to take a keen interest in their food, knowing what constitutes good food, valuing it and seeking it out whenever they can. This starts with young children who we want to see armed with the knowledge and opportunity to understand where their food comes from and to make the right choices throughout their lives.

Highlighted Knowledge measures setting out action we have taken to achieve the vision since 2018:

Food Education Programme

2018 position: Building on previous initiatives to educate our young people on where their food comes from, we are now going to bring forward a new overarching Food Education Programme incorporating over £500,000 of existing funding and a number of strands of activity, including facilitating more visits to farms for school children.

2019 update: We launched the Good Food Futures programme^[25] in June 2019 which aims to provide an overarching coordinated and end-to-end approach to the delivery of food education to young people and encourage careers in the food industry.

The Royal Highland Education Trust have been awarded further funding to increase the number of farm visits and events for school children. Their aim for 2019/20 is to undertake visits and events with around 14,000 children, with plans to increase this further in the following years.

Curriculum for Excellence

2018 position: Curriculum for Excellence, which includes children aged 3 to 18, states food education is about more than just learning how to cook and choose food, but also learning about the relationship to health and wellbeing and encompassing sustainability, advertising and culture.

2019 update: In June 2019 we published the Learning for Sustainability Action Plan^[26] which aims to provide more opportunities for young people to learn about sustainable living, which can include the sustainable production and consumption of food.

Eco-Schools Scotland Programme

2018 position: Scottish Government provides support for inclusion of food as a theme in the Eco-Schools Scotland programme which focuses on sustainable consumption, environment and origins of food.

2019 update: We continue to provide grant funding to enable Keep Scotland Beautiful to deliver its Eco-Schools Scotland^[27] programme. Food and the environment continues to be a key focus for the programme^[28]. For the financial year 2019-20 SG funding amounted to £300,000.

Another Keep Scotland Beautiful project, Climate Ready Classrooms^[29], prepares young people to join a national network of carbon literate ambassadors who plan and act on climate change issues within their

Food for Thought Fund

2018 position: With nearly £460,000 of support from the Scottish Government in 2018-19 alone, the Food for Thought Fund is a competitive fund that supports food education related projects in schools to help pupils learn about food.

2019 update: Support for our Food For Thought Programme^[30] has continued this year with 174 schools benefiting from the fund. This good work has continually shown benefits to school children and teachers, and funding is planned for a further 2 years.

Schools (Health Promotion and Nutrition) (Scotland) Act 2007

2018 position: To improve food provision and food education, and ensure schools are promoting health, Education Scotland will, by the end of 2020, publish a self-evaluation framework to support the implementation of the Schools (Health Promotion and Nutrition) (Scotland) Act 2007.

2019 update: Education Scotland's Health and Nutrition Inspectors are working in collaboration with local authority school catering and education colleagues from across Scotland to develop the self-evaluation framework. Trialling of the framework will begin by the end of 2019.

Scotland's National Chef

The National Chef will increase awareness of the objectives of the Good Food Nation Policy – healthy, environmentally sustainable and affordable food for all, with positive messages about the importance of cooking using locally sourced, Scottish products.

Update: Scotland's National Chef has carried out over 10 engagements this year in a range of settings including the Royal Highland Show, primary schools and a community garden, giving inspirational talks and cookery demonstrations.

We continue to identify opportunities for the National Chef to contribute strategically to the work of the Scottish Government and enhance our policy thinking.