The Prince of Wales has teamed up with food experts Jimmy Doherty and Jamie Oliver for a new food-based education programme ‘Food For the Future’ to combat food waste and promote sustainable food production in younger generations.
Writing exclusively in The Daily Mirror earlier this week, Prince Charles said: “The pilot scheme will involve pupils from secondary schools across south-west and central Scotland who will learn over the course of the year from notable experts like Jimmy Doherty and his long-time friend, Jamie Oliver. They will get hands-on experience of growing fruit and vegetables and farming, visit food-processing factories and learn how to cook healthy food that is locally sourced.”
He writes that it’s concern for young people’s futures that inspired him to create Food For The Future, saying that, “If we can encourage and enable them to see that the food they eat is part of a joined-up system which can either help or hinder the health of the planet, they will be much more able to help turn the situation around to avoid the climate catastrophe towards which we are all hurtling. For one thing, they will discover that almost overnight they could help reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by up to 10% without it costing anything.”
Jamie Oliver said in a statement on the Foundation’s website: “Understanding where food comes from, how it’s grown and the impact it has on communities and the planet is so vital in helping us better understand how the food choices we make can have a positive impact on the planet.
“Combining food education and sustainability is really unique to this programme, and I have developed a series of recipes, tips and hacks to show the kids taking part how to make their food go further so they can limit food waste at home – which is not only good for the planet but it’s good for the wallet too.”
Prince Charles writes, “Much is going on in the food sector to make a difference and I can only applaud the many British food manufacturers that are working to reduce the impact their processes have.
“But much more could be done if we, the consumers, are better informed and lead the way.
“My long-term hope is that food products on supermarket shelves will carry a kite mark that indicates how sustainably they have been produced.
“But, in the meantime, a big step is to make sure the next generation is much more aware of better and often inexpensive ways of reducing the size of our footprint on the world.”
“We all have a part to play in reducing food waste – whether that be through individuals making more informed choices, supermarkets choosing to stock food with a longer shelf life or demonstrating good modelling in terms of sustainable farming and growing practices through programmes like food for the future,” said Jimmy Doherty.
The Prince’s Foundation has secured funding for Food For the Future from Sainsbury’s, Richemont, and the players of The People’s Postcode Lottery, as well as Hellmann’s.
