The Long Lunch Seminar: What is the role of school food in promoting social justice, health and environmental sustainability?

The Centre for Research in Public Health and Community Care (CRIPACC), in conjunction with the University of Hertfordshire’s ‘Food’ research theme, is launching a new seminar series, the ‘Long Lunch’.

The Long Lunch is an online forum for exploring the relationship between research, policy and practice on food, eating and inequalities. The occasional seminar series aims to promote discussion and debate on cutting-edge topics and questions that are of current public and policy concern, and is open to anyone working or interested in the relationship between food, eating and social inequalities. At each seminar we bring together speakers who are researchers with those working in and on the front-line of food, health and public policy and practice.

‘What is the role of school food in promoting social justice, health and environmental sustainability?’

Chair: Professor Wendy Wills (Director, CRIPACC and NIHR Applied Research Collaboration (ARC) East of England)

Research perspectives

• Professor David Barling (Food Research Theme Champion, UH) and Dr Lucy Michaels (Research Fellow, UH) will present work from ongoing research project, BeanMeals that takes a cross-disciplinary approach to researching school food, health and the environment.

• Professor Rebecca O’Connell (CRIPACC and Trustee at School Food Matters) will share findings from the Families and Food in Hard Times research project to explore the difference school meals make – or do not make – to the diets and lives of children in low-income families in three European countries

Policy and practice perspectives

• Raksha Mistry (Leicestershire Programme Manager at Food for Life, Soil Association, and Trustee at Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming) will provide ground-level insights on the work Food for Life are doing to address health and social inequalities and ecological crises.

Event ends with a Questions and discussion session