Take Home Messages on Sustainable Food: Surveying Parent Perceptions of the Effects of a Primary School Programme

Aims: Parents are important stakeholders in school-based health promotion programmes. This study aimed to understand the perceptions of parents of a primary school-based healthy and sustainable food programme. It specifically sought to examine the perceived effects of the programme on the home environment and on parental engagement with schools.
Study Design: A cross-sectional parent survey and a before-and-after school activity survey.
Place and Duration of Study: Primary schools in England taking part in the Food for Life Partnership programme, between January 2008 and January 2011.
Methodology: In 35 schools a pre-programme enrolment survey on parental involvement was completed and repeated at 18-24 months. In the same schools 740 parents responded to a cross-sectional survey on perceptions and effects of sustainable food education.
Results: Parental involvement increased across a number of areas of food-related school activities. Parental respondents were active in school harvest celebrations (42%), cooking events (37%) and homemade food events (33%). Parents reported raised interest of their child in food origins, fair trade foods, organic foods, animal welfare, food packaging and food miles. 40% reported their children talked more about new fruit and vegetables in family discussions. 43% reported changes in buying patterns and 45% reported they were eating more vegetables. Reported changes in home food consumption included: more seasonal food (33%), more locally sourced food (26%), more fair trade food (25%), more free range eggs (25%), and more organic food (11%). Under 5% of parents raised reservations connected to the affordability of sustainable foods and the relevance of the programme to educational goals.
Conclusion: Parents perceived programme-related effects on their family including discussion and purchases of healthier sustainably sourced foods. Health promotion programmes can enhance their impact and sustainability through reinforcing the processes by which parents become engaged and can adopt programme messages in the home environment.