The Benefit of Food Growing in Schools

Food Growing Schools: London is a partnership that was developed as a response to the Food Growing in Schools Taskforce Report developed in March 2012. Below is a series of research documents about the benefits of food growing to schools, individuals, and the wider community, created by members of the partnership and other experts in the school food growing field.

Food Growing in Schools Taskforce Report

The Food Growing in Schools Taskforce, led by Garden Organic, was established as a response to increasing concerns about the health and well-being of our children and young people, and a confidence that food growing in schools is a successful way of dealing with these concerns, delivering many benefits. The report demonstrates the impact food growing in schools can have, explains why it is so powerful a catalyst for change, and understands what must be done to ensure that every child and young person, school and community, experiences the potential benefits of participation.

Report: Key Findings

• The most effective food growing schools achieve significant learning,skills, health and well-being outcomes for children and young people.
• Food growing in schools has a positive impact on the schools,communities, organisations and businesses involved.
• Many schools grow food, but only some do so in a way that achieves the maximum benefits for all involved.

Key Recommendations - there is more that needs to be done to:

• Support school leadership teams, teaching and non-teaching staff to improve outcomes for their school, by integrating and embedding food growing into their practice.
• Increase the availability of resources to support food growing and better match those who are offering resources with those who need them.
• Involve communities to a much greater extent in food growing in schools to increase impact within and beyond schools.

---

The Benefit of Food Growing in Schools
- for schools

The following documents summarise the benefits of food growing in schools (download PDF):

Class teacher guide 2015 (PDF 1.2MB)

Head teacher guide 2015 (PDF 1.2MB)

---

The Benefit of Food Growing in Schools
- for Local Communities

June 2014. By Garden Organic

The benefit of food growing in schools - to local communities (2014) (download PDF)

Recent changes to Government policy on food culture are far-reaching, with the new School Food Plan, free infant school meals, and cooking in the curriculum for under-14s all on the menu. Local authorities need a proactive response, and many are already reaping the rewards of food growing. Vastly increased take-up of school meals, positive effects on public health, higher educational attainment, greener environment and a boost to local economy through employment and food-based enterprise are just some of the results of food growing. These benefits are maximised by starting in schools. Food growing supports young people to pick up a healthy attitude to food for life, with increased quality of life, employment skills and a stronger sense of community all linking to a bigger long-term cost saving.

The five key benefit areas for local authorities considering food growing are Health, Economy, Education, Community and Environment. Here’s a summary of the mounting evidence for each:

Health:  Food growing improves health and wellbeing.

• The Department of Health’s latest obesity strategy prioritises food growing.   People engaged with or exposed to local food growing increase their intake of foods proven to prevent obesity.  
• Food growing is a tactical response to the obesity crisis – now at 27% nationally.  Research shows that young people involved in food growing pick up healthy habits and choices that decrease health and social care costs for local authorities across the longer term.
• Health authorities are now actively investing in food growing - NHS Dudley estimate the five spaces they funded will deliver annual savings of between £770 and £4,900 per head.
• The Garden Partners project – a partnership between Wandsworth Council and Age UK – demonstrated a health costs saving of £10,900 per participant.  These outcomes help to meet the strategic aims of Health and Wellbeing boards for reducing health inequality.
• Growing food improves not only physical but also mental health, reported through outdoor exercise, social bond formation and increased sense of purposefulness.  

Education: Food growing in schools bears fruit

• Whether a school is large or small, rural or urban, when they place food at the heart of school life, and work to win pupil, parent, staff and management buy-in, they succeed.  Local authorities can support this coordinated or ‘whole school’ approach to food growing, shown to create demonstrable impact in just about every area.
• Break-even on school meals does require 50% take-up but using food grown at school in meals has seen take-up rocket because young people are excited to eat food they have grown.
• The Food For Life Partnership (FFLP) evaluation showed a 13 percentage point increase in primary take-up of school meals, and 20 percentage point increase in secondary, following their participation. Twice as many primary schools received an Ofsted rating of Outstanding following their participation in FFLP.  
• Funding can be external: the Phoenix High School in White City has attracted £70,000 of Big Lottery funding a year for their flagship school farm, employing two full-time members of staff and selling produce to the public three times a week.  
• Sponsorship is available: Catering suppliers such as ISS are sponsoring equipment e.g. greenhouses in schools like Lowther School in Richmond, getting more school-grown vegetables on the menu at a lower cost.

Economy: Food growing boosts business

• Food growing employability and enterprise programmes help build a stronger local economies for the future. The Soil Association’s London Farm Academy engages ten schools over three years to fully integrate farming, growing and food careers into the curriculum. It has already delivered over 100 school farm markets.
• Urban food growing also shows increased employability statistics and economic development for school leavers, as with Stoke-on-Trent’s Urbivore scheme, where a city farm on a disused golf course created five jobs, 26 apprenticeships and 55 mentoring and volunteering roles.
• Food growing start-up economy remains small nationally but significant for communities where these initiatives flourish, with commercial sales of locally grown food increasing through the establishment of allotment/city farm-based community businesses e.g. local food provision through ‘veg box’ phenomenon.  
• A Greener local environment provides a general boost for businesses in areas where planting and food growing takes place.

Community: People come together through food

• Metropolitan housing in Tower Hamlets reported that food growing helped build a stronger sense of community on their estates and reduced anti-social behaviour. Residents and neighbours who previously did not talk to each other became friends.
• Food growing is being pushed up the development agenda and embedded into policy frameworks. Lambeth Council recognises in its Draft Local Plan for future development that  growing spaces are part of “promoting community cohesion and safe, livable neighbourhoods.”  
• New communities are now being designed around food growing. The amended Planning Practice Guidance  requires the protection of existing growing spaces as well as the development of new ones.

Environment: Growing food lessens the impact of climate change

• Growing food helps communities vulnerable to food poverty become more self-sufficient. Garden Organic’s Master Gardener project trains people in the skills needed to grow locally and reduced overall spends on food in participating households by 29%.  
• Food growing contributes to the ‘green safety net’ - increased planting compensates for rising temperatures. In Manchester a planting increase of less than 10% would compensate entirely for the projected temperature rise of 4% over next 80 years.  
• More planted spaces helps reduce the impact of flooding in urban areas by improving overall ecosystem services.  In a similar way, the shelter from cool winds and shade in summer provided by planting and growing reduces energy consumption.
• Food growing also reduces landfill through increased composting and encouraging pro-environmental behaviours.

Taking Action:

• Nurture and support existing growing initiatives in local schools and create local flagships.
• Develop a local action plan for delivering a borough-wide ‘whole school’ approach to food.
• Identify existing community food growing groups and enterprises to engage with and support.
• Consult with local people, community groups, businesses and social landlords about food growing ideas and encourage them to work with their local school on food growing

---

The wider benefits of food growing

Bill Scott, Professor of Education, University of Bath - at the launch Food Growing Schools: London. Speech - The wider benefits of food growing

---

Better Health For London's Children 

This report is about better health for London. It rests on the belief that this city – its people, its institutions, and its political, economic and cultural leaders – have an obligation to help and support one another to achieve better health.

It reflects the creativity and wisdom of London’s extraordinary people – a report bursting with ideas and proposals from the public and from renowned experts. Its message is simple: ours can be the healthiest major global city. By working together, we can achieve better health for all Londoners.

Better Health for London's Children (October 2014)

London Health Commission publications.

---

Horticulture Matters 2014

The growing crisis in UK Horticulture that is threatening our economy, environment and food security. Horticulture Matters is a report on how partners in the Horticulture industry are tackling this crisis

Why Horticulture is important - Horticulture is the science, art, technology and business of cultivating ornamental plants, fruit and vegetables for human use. It is practiced at all levels from individuals at home, to the activities of multi-national corporations. For this reason, the Horticulture industry has joined together as the Horticulture Matters industry group to tackle the skills shortage in the industry. Key partners include: Royal Horticultural Society, Chartered Institute of Horticulture, Horticultural Trades Association, Lantra and many other organisations such as Garden Organic.

Pledges and promises - the report highlights the achievements and aims including:

• Recruiting industry ambassadors
• Delivering horticultural 'test drives' to schools and colleges
• Promoting the GrowCareers website
• Delivering GrowCareers days
• Supporting horticulture and guidance for schools
• Facilitating businesses to work with schools
• Promoting apprenticeship opportunities
• Encouraging more take-up of horticultural courses
• Delivering a public information campaign regarding plant health
• Notifying Government of emerging threats

Horticulture Matters report (download pdf)

---

Healthy Patterns for Healthy Families: removing the hurdles to a healthy family

A report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on a Fit and Healthy Childhood (October 2014). The report urges the incoming Government to appoint a Minister for Children to drive the policy and co-ordinate strategy across all departments.The following policy recommendations are proposed, related to food growing:

Nutrition and the school environment  - page 19

1. Government to develop a cross-Departmental strategy co-ordinated by a Minister for Children at Cabinet level with the power of audit
2. A free, national, mandatory healthy schools programme including appropriate staff training to embed healthy eating, physical activity and body image education into the curriculum and to make sustainable changes to school food on a ‘whole school’ approach, with a possible starting point being The European Food Framework and its new subject specifications which outlines core skills for diet, active lifestyles and energy balance
3. Parents and pupils to be encouraged to collaborate with head teachers and chairs of governors to ensure that a school’s policies and ethos promote child fitness and wellbeing. Family Liaison Workers to be based in school to support parents in devising home activities that encourage children to be more active, eat more nutritious foods and spend less time in screen-based pursuits
4. Extended schools and family learning to dovetail so that families and children can be educated together about food, nutrition, physical activity and health
5. New ‘cooking programmes’ within  the school curriculum to combine nutritional education and elements from successful home economics syllabuses, rather than concentrating solely upon recipes

Download report: Healthy Patterns for Healthy Families (plain text version).

---

Growing Our Future

The impact of growing food in schools as part of a broader food education programme.

This report highlights important evidence about the diverse range of benefits that food growing in schools offers and the worthwhile role growing activities play in a child’s educational experience. It is an evaluation of Food For Life Partnership's work with schools through the work of Garden Organic.

Five key impact areas explain the vital educational, personal and practical benefits that growing offers to pupils, teachers, parents and the wider school community:

• Acquiring skills and knowledge
• Understanding and appreciating the environment
• Improving health and wellbeing
• Encouraging positive values and behaviours

This report presents the findings of an evaluation conducted by the University of Bath’s Centre for Research in Education and the Environment.

Download report: Growing Our Future (pdf)

---