January started at pace. Through conversations on school food funding, farming systems, racial justice, early years nutrition and infant feeding, the team were excited to kick start 2026 with a variety of events. We’ve taken a moment to reflect on where we have spent our time, and what it could mean for the months to come.
8th Jan School Food Funding – Caterer Roundtable
Myles joined a School Food Review Caterers Roundtable, to present some emerging proposals for future funding models, drawing on his role coordinating the School Food Review Funding Work Group. This roundtable brought together leaders from more than a dozen school food providers across both local authority and privately managed services. The discussion also created space for caterers to test those ideas against the realities of delivery, offering practical insight into what different funding approaches would need to look like to work on the ground.
8th Jan Oxford Real Farming Conference
Harry was excited to attend the 17th annual Oxford Real Farming Conference and dive into food and farming systems transformation. Highlights included a panel discussion on agrarian reform, a discussion on justice in supply chains, and a talk from the inimitable Lyla June on the productivity of Indigenous American food systems.
20th Jan Planning Lunch with Nourishing Our Future team
Dayna and Rosie welcomed the Nourishing Our Future (NOF) team for a planning session over lunch. In 2025, Essex County Council and Anglia Ruskin University brought us in to help amplify the NOF story, by connecting their local evidence and ambition to national conversations on early years nutrition.
During this session, the group reflected together on progress so far, mapped out upcoming engagement opportunities, and planned for the NOF conference in March. One key challenge they explored is how to use evidence on early years nutrition, and growing challenges like packed lunches, to tell a ‘school readiness’ story and get MPs to engage with this area of food policy. They also started thinking about next steps for the partnership. As ever with the NOF team, Dayna and Rosie left the session feeling energised, something that carried straight through into the afternoon as they headed to Parliament to present side-by-side at the School Food APPG.
20th Jan School Food All Party Parliamentary Group
Despite the importance of early years nutrition, it has sat in the shadow of school food, particularly at the policymaking level. Against this backdrop, it was a significant milestone for the Early Years Food Coalition to host an ‘early years take-over’ at the School Food APPG. The session created a rare opportunity to bring early years evidence directly into Parliament and connect it to the school food advocacy space.
Dayna and Rosie were delighted to help coordinate the agenda and to present alongside Clarie Wall and Dr. Jo Pearce from Sheffield Hallam University, Sean Cowden from the London Early Years Foundation, Vicky Sibson from First Steps Nutrition Trust, and Emily Fallon from Essex County Council and Dr. Kay Aaronricks from Anglia Ruskin University, along with other members of the Nourishing Our Future team, including two early years practitioners who are a part of the NOF project.
It was encouraging to see MPs alongside colleagues and clients engaging so actively with the presentations. The discussion surfaced both the barriers and opportunities in early years nutrition, and why it needs to sit squarely within the school food conversation. Presentations covered data on the quality of food eaten in childcare settings, and the factors driving early inequality. They underlined how good food in the early years supports school readiness, from healthy decision-making and practical skills to social and physical development. They examined the influence of the commercial baby food industry, and the harm it can cause, alongside examples of effective practice shared by the NOF team. It felt like a positive shift towards genuine recognition of early years nutrition as a policy priority.
27th Jan The Gathering Table 2: Holding Ground
Harry attended Sustain and Eating Better’s second event on racial justice in the food system. The session opened by returning to a key theme from last summer’s conference: how practitioners in this space can look after themselves while working on this difficult topic. It felt particularly relevant in the context of ongoing political events, which have intensified feelings of burnout and fatigue for many working in racial justice and food systems. Discussion also turned to leadership and funding, exploring how senior decision-makers and funders can be more effectively engaged in racial justice work, what may be preventing that engagement, and what collective action might help shift this. Reflecting on this, Harry noted the importance of funders such as Impact on Urban Health, who embed racial equity as a core pillar of their approach to health equity.
Images from the first workshop at The Gathering Table 2
28th Jan School Food Webinar for SW region
Rosie and Cressida were pleased to join a fantastic line-up of speakers at the South West School Food webinar, which brought together organisations working to improve children and young people’s health and wellbeing through better access to nutritious school food. They shared Bremner & Co’s work supporting local authorities with free school meal auto-enrolment, as well as the opportunity to strengthen food provision in early years settings.
The session also featured the work of School Food Matters; Devon County Council, who shared their experience of implementing free school meal auto-enrolment; Andy Rayment from Bite Back on amplifying young people’s voices in school food; Dan Parker from Veg Power on increasing consumption of vegetables, beans and pulses in schools across the South West; and Nerissa Buckley and Zahra Kiyani from Chefs in Schools, who spoke about their work to improve both the quality of school food and wider food culture. Together, the session highlighted how coordinated action on school food can play a powerful role in ensuring all children have access to nutritious food that supports their health, learning and wellbeing.
28th Jan Infant Feeding & Inequalities APPG
Dayna attended the APPG on Infant Feeding, chaired by Jessica Brown-Fuller MP. This meeting focused on babies, breastfeeding, formula feeding and the government’s response to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) report. For Dayna, one phrase cut through the discussion; ‘why don’t we treat breastmilk like blood?’ The comparison was powerful, and shows how milk as both a vital human resource and a product of reproductive labour. Contributions from Shereen Fisher (UNICEF UK) and Catherine Pereira-Kotze (Baby Feeding Law Group and First Steps Nutrition) grounded the discussion in what families actually need, and how systems should respond. There was strong agreement in the room that that parents deserve skilled, unbiased support and high-quality information, that all babies should receive the same standards of care, and that infant feeding must be recognised as a specialist area of practice, backed by funded training. The session closed with a sense of opportunity. The Government’s response to the CMA report is a chance to turn evidence into action on pricing, information, enforcement and breastfeeding support.
29th Jan School Food Matters – Nourish Celebration
Rosie and Cressida enjoyed a joyful morning celebrating five years of School Food Matters’ Nourish Programme and the publication of its evaluation at Fishmongers’ Hall. The programme supports schools to put children’s health and nutrition first, reaching over 35,000 children and young people across more than 100 schools.
Olivia Bailey MP’s reflections on the role good food culture plays in connection, inclusion and opportunity for all children, and on the importance of young people shaping food provision that works for them, were a memorable highlight. The fruit dolphins prepared by Young Food Ambassadors echoed this message, offering a playful reminder of the joy and creativity that emerge when children are actively involved in their food experiences.
The event shared key learnings from the programme, with contributions from Chefs in Schools, Southwark Council, a Southwark headteacher, and young people from Bite Back. Speakers highlighted the importance of school food culture beyond what’s on the plate, and how joyful, inclusive food experiences help children to learn and thrive as breakfast and lunch provision expands.
A fantastic way to start 2026! We look forward to more events through the rest of the year.
Written with support from Tessa Goodman.