‘In conversation with…’ is a series of blog posts where I’ll be talking to inspirational people working in the world of food policy.
For this today’s ‘In conversation with’ , we’ve been chatting with Jenny Paxman, CEO of The School of Artisan Food and a leading advocate for transformative food education in the UK. A Registered Nutritionist with over two decades of academic and leadership experience, Jenny champions curriculum-embedded, hands-on food education that empowers young people to understand and navigate our complex food environment.
Jenny believes food education is not a niche subject: it is scientific, social, economic, cultural, political and practical. Her work centres on placing real food at the heart of learning and reshaping school food environments to support personal, public and planetary wellbeing. Through Best Food Forward and national advocacy, she is driving change to ensure every child can grow, cook, share and understand food – to enable them to thrive.
We caught up with Jenny to discuss why food education matters; from curriculum reform, to the joy of cooking, eating and learning together.
Let’s start with the big picture. You spend much of your time championing better food education across the UK. For those less familiar, what does food education mean in 2025 and why does it matter so much right now?
I think food education in 2025 is much more than learning to cook. It connects people with the full story of food, from where and how it’s produced, through to the skills you need to prepare and enjoy it, and the impact it has on our health, communities and the environment.
It matters right now because the food system is under so much pressure, whether from a climate change perspective or rising levels of diet-related ill health, or from a cost-of-living perspective – all these crises are shaping how people eat. Food education should give people the knowledge and confidence to navigate this world and to demand better of food, which is one of the most powerful tools we have for long-term change.
Could you provide some examples of what good practice in food education in schools looks like to you?
For me, good practice is when food education feels real, feels relevant and feels inspiring. This is about being hands on with food and integrating it into everyday learning. I’m talking about schools that bring in growers, bakers and chefs to work alongside teachers, giving pupils really authentic experiences around food, and schools that treat dining as an extension of the classroom. This is where children learn about balance, seasonality and culture, as they eat and explore foods. And really, that’s what’s setting the gold standard.
What have you learned in your role from children, schools and teachers that the wider policy world still needs to hear?
I’ve learned that schools are deeply committed to doing food education well, but they’re often fighting against structural barriers that make that really challenging. Whether it’s squeezed timetables, a lack of specialist trained teachers or pressure around budgets and ingredient provisioning. Teachers tell us they want the freedom and resources to make food a meaningful part of the school day and beyond.
Policymakers need to hear that food education enables children to thrive. It’s about resourcing schools properly, valuing the teachers and their expertise, and embedding food into the school culture and wider educational culture of this country.
The Department for Education is currently reviewing the food curriculum. What policies would you like to see come out of this review, and what risks do you think we need to guard against?
From our perspective at The School of Artisan Food, we’d like food education to be a fundamental part of children’s wellbeing, helping young people to feel a really strong sense of belonging. I’d like food education, and all the associated subjects that enable children to thrive, to be given the same weight as other core skills we prioritise, like literacy and numeracy. It’s not just about it being a life skill, it’s about protecting children and ensuring they’re well enough, mentally, emotionally and physically, to engage with those academic opportunities. I want to see curriculum time protected and high-quality training for teachers.
The risk is if we just tweak and play around the edges of the curriculum, we’re just going to consolidate the existing issue that we have.
I wondered what you are most proud of about The School of Artisan Food?
It’s the food community we’ve created. I’m so fortunate to work with the most amazing group of people, who are 100% committed to food education. At the Welbeck Estate, we’re surrounded by this incredible network of small-scale producers who are wedded to artisanal production. Every day, I see people discovering the joy of making something with their hands, whether it’s bread, cheese or charcuterie. Our staff and tutors, our technicians, our wider team – they’re extraordinary. We can combine world class expertise with a generosity of spirit that makes learning feel really accessible to anybody, and I’m really proud that we’re preserving not just the artisan skills, but showing how they’re still relevant today for healthier diets, stronger communities and a more sustainable food system.
And finally, what’s for dinner?
I’m going to interpret the word dinner in a fluid way and take my northern heritage with me. What’s for dinner is an important question. But also, where will dinner take place? Who will I be with? Where are we going to eat?
We always eat together and we will still eat outside whenever we can – in the courtyard, around a big communal table. Topics for discussion will range from who’s preserving what, how big your plum harvest was this year, and whether your tomatoes are getting harvested today or at the weekend. We’ll be sitting down to a range of home baked quiches, and Vickie’s working on a wide and varied range of salads, so we’ll all be getting our five a day for sure. Then we’ll probably head off for a little stroll around the estate to round off our meal before the second half of the day.
Edited by Cressida Pidgeon.