Welcome to Food for Life

At Food for Life we believe that everyone should have access to healthy and sustainable food that is good for the climate, nature, and health.

Through our programmes, award schemes, campaigns, policy advocacy, networks, and partnerships, our work continues to inspire, ignite conversation, and drive innovation.

Our approach is unique in its breadth across the food system, operating on the frontline with schools, nurseries, caterers, farmers and growers. We engage with local and national policy makers and influencers from grassroots organisations to key government departments.

We achieve this by listening. We listen to and work alongside those on the frontline of the food system, innovating workable solutions on a local level that can be used on a national scale.

Innovating solutions to complex problems is part of our DNA.

Our strong foundations were set with the pioneering collaboration between Soil Association, inspirational school cook Jeanette Orrey MBE, and Organix founder Lizzie Vann in 2003 when the Food for Life report was published. This groundbreaking report exposed the underinvestment and poor standard of food in schools across the UK, igniting a national conversation that continues in households, communities and settings throughout the country to this day.

Solutions for the world to take on:

In 20 years, the Food for Life framework has had a strong influence on political thought. Our school awards criteria were incorporated into government recommendations in the School Food Plan (2013). In 2021, the National Food Strategy highlighted numerous parts of our framework for government policy, recommending that all schools should adopt our ‘whole school approach’, as well as using the model of our Food for Life Served Here catering awards to introduce a national catering accreditation scheme.

Our mission remains clear

Our mission is as clear today as it was when the 2003 report was published. Everyone should have daily access to a healthy and sustainable meal that is good for climate, nature, and health. We particularly want access to healthy and sustainable meals to be the norm for all children, and for this to ignite a passion for good food that will last a lifetime. To achieve this we focus our programmes, campaigns, and policy advocacy on the environments where children spend their time and food is consistently available.

No-one is alone in Food for Life

Those we work alongside do not have to face the complex challenges of the current food system and landscape alone. At Soil Association and Food for Life, we work in partnership with many communities, networks, organisations and businesses to deliver much-needed change, provide support and join forces with others to ensure this change is impactful and long-lasting.

Learn more about Food for Life through our various programmes:

Schools and Early Years Award Schemes

Sustainable Catering: Certification, Training and Consultancy

Local Authority Partnerships

Communities and Networks: My Food Community & Sustainable Food Places

Campaigns: Cook and Share and Plant and Share