Soil Association Food for Life (FFL) is all about transforming food culture – making healthy, tasty and sustainable meals the norm, reconnecting people with where their food comes from, teaching them how it’s grown and cooked, and championing the importance of well-sourced ingredients.

FFL is led by the Soil Association and brings together the expertise and assets of:

• Focus on Food
• Garden Organic
• Health Education Trust
• Royal Society for Public Health. 

They work with thousands of schools, nurseries, hospitals and care homes, helping them build knowledge and skills through a ‘whole setting approach’. This engages pupils and parents, teachers and doctors, caterers and carers, and the wider community to create a powerful voice for long-term change.

Food for Life School Awards supports schools to take a whole school approach that sees them grow their own food; organise trips to farms; source food from local producers; set up school farmers’ markets; hold community food events; provide cooking and growing clubs for pupils and their families; serve freshly prepared, well-sourced meals and provide an attractive dining environment so lunchtimes are a positive feature of the school day.

The Food for Life Early Years Award provides an independent endorsement for nurseries and Children’s Centres that serve good quality, nutritious food and support the babies and children in their care to develop good eating habits for life. Finally their Hospital Leader Support Package supports NHS Trusts to serve appetising, nutritious and sustainable meals to patients, staff and visitors, and take a health-promoting approach to food in hospitals.

Working together

Access to nutritious meals is key to ensuring that children, older adults, patients and the population in general are able to live a healthy and optimal life. Our role in FFL is enhancing and strengthening the public health expertise of the programme and support the promotion of healthy, sustainable and safe eating in to reduce health inequalities.