Can We Afford Not to Invest in Food Education?

Conversations about improving diets for adults and children have been brewing for a while in different parts of world. Often, we tend to discuss food prices, obesity, food insecurity, access to fresh fruit and vegetables. While these are urgent issues to address, there is one question that rarely gets asked.

Do people have the skills, confidence, and know-how to make the most of the food available to them?

Food education has long been seen as something premium but not crucial. Given the mounting pressure on the NHS from metabolic diseases, especially those that are associated with poor diets, with concurrent, relentless squeeze on household budgets, food education needs to be viewed from a different lens. It is not just a health intervention. It sits at the intersection of public health, food insecurity, finances, sustainability, and health inequalities.

A 2025 report by Frontier Economics, commissioned by Nesta, showed that obesity and overweight alone costs the UK about £126 billion each year, including NHS spending nearly £12 billion each year. Meanwhile, food insecurity is still a brutal reality for approximately 11% of households and those with children being disproportionately affected (15%). These numbers are alarming to say the least.

Charities like Food etc and School Food Matters, schools, healthcare providers, and community organisations are already making efforts to address this through free school meals, innovative school programmes, and public health campaigns. However, access to food is only part of the problem. The other part is knowledge to give people the ability to use food well.

Food education covers meal planning, budgeting, food storage, reading nutrition labels, reducing waste, and cooking efficiently with available ingredients. For vulnerable groups, these skills can directly help people stretch a tight budget, reduce the temptation to buy convenience options, and build genuine confidence in the kitchen. Food and cooking education can be a practical preventative strategy to reduce the risk of diseases and overconsumption of ultra-processed foods, offer social experiences, and encourage a wide range of people to continue food practices that are environmentally sustainable.

We’ve established that food education has value, so can we afford to keep side lining it?

The benefits stretch further than creating a difference at individual and household level. Food waste is a persistent drain on finances. A recent survey from WRAP suggests that while self-reported household food waste has reduced from 21% to 19%), the proportion of high food wasters remains unchanged at 27%. The 2025 WRAP campaign further showed a stark picture that by the end of that year, an average family of four would have wasted food worth £1000, money that cannot be spared for many households.

For policymakers and funders, this points to an efficient and timely opportunity. Investing in food education cuts across several problems at once. Stronger food literacy can support healthy eating, reduce avoidable waste, build confidence around cooking, and help people do more with less. That is a rare thing in tackling public health problems.

None of this indicates that food education is the ultimate solution.

It cannot end food insecurity, dismantle poverty, or undo structural barriers on its own. But, when it is placed alongside broader efforts to improve food access and health inequalities, it can play role in achieving lifelong benefits. Besides, food education is one of the fewer solutions that can be naturally passed on, therefore, improving the lives of future generations, something that governments and professionals across the world are working hard to achieve.

With rapidly rising healthcare costs and the UK prioritising food provision and quality, the case for food education is not sentimental but straightforward. The question is simply whether we are willing to support and take it seriously.

It’s the focus of everything we do at Food etc so if you agree that it is fundamental to improving diets, lives, please consider supporting our work. There are various ways that companies can help. Or if you are an individual who would like to donate whether it’s a one off or regularly and it’s a little or a lot it all helps

Author: Divya Patel, PhD