Food for the Future

On Monday 25th April the Food for the Future group from Wallace Hall Academy were invited to Dumfries House for a celebration event of the programme with HRH Prince Charles, Prince of Wales and Duke of Rothesay.

In 2021, the Princes’ Foundation launched the pilot Food for the Future programme which focuses on giving young people a view of how the food system works so they can understand its impact on the environment. Experts in food production and cookery gave 48 school pupils from four schools advice and lessons in making their food consumption more sustainable.

This education programme is part of The Prince's Foundation's wider food waste initiative known as 'Making Food Go Further'. In partnership with Jamie Oliver and Jimmy Doherty and with the support of The Soil Association, Business in the Community and numerous other stakeholder groups and charities shaping the content.

Through a series of experiential practice-based masterclasses, our pupils had the opportunity to learn from experts in farming, food production and cooking alongside developing skills in connected science-based activity.

The S2 pupils presented their ideas on sustainable food production and reducing food waste at our school to a panel of industry judges and received praise on their efforts and excellent presentation skills. The judges sampled the WHApple juice from the school orchard and watched a video about our polytunnels, canteen and composting.

The pupils then got to experience a carousel of activities, meeting industry experts from Hospitality, Supermarkets, LANTRA, Quality Meat Scotland, Horticulture, Soil specialists and Scientists. Esther Glen said “I liked learning to fold the napkins and learning about seeds” and Gabriella Hamlet stated “I enjoyed the experience and learned lots. I particularly enjoyed speaking to different people for example Jo from ASDA and the lady from LANTRA, they were very informative”.

They were provided with lunch and were congratulated by celebrity chef Jimmy Doherty and met Prince Charles himself, who asked us about the production of cider and if we planned on planting any pear trees in our orchard. Lucy Young commented “I really enjoyed the experience, especially because we met Prince Charles!”

Now is a vital time for the environment, when limiting food waste can play a key role in reducing household carbon emissions. For each of us, the food we eat accounts for about 25 per cent of our greenhouse gas footprint.

Currently 1.3 billion tonnes of food are wasted every year around the globe — around a third of all food produced — and tackling food waste offers the opportunity to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by up to 10 per cent.

Those who took part have gained the skills and knowledge they need to play their part in reducing food waste and learned how to better champion sustainable practices. 

The pupils were also lucky to be given some excellent goodie bags to take away with them and are keen to continue the good work they have started with this project and implement some of the ideas at Wallace Hall Academy.