The coalition formed by Bite Back, Chefs in Schools, Jamie Oliver Group, School Food Matters, and The Food Foundation has joined forces with BBH to create The School Food Project, whose mission is to improve the quality of school meals across the UK. BBH has developed the brand identity and a national campaign set to follow later this year.
The initiative, which brings together five of the UK’s leading food and education organisations and has raised £2.3m to help schools implement the new standards. The groundbreaking partnership will support schools to transform school food, improve food education and serve delicious meals to students up and down the country. The partnership is funded by philanthropic foundations including Henry Smith Foundation, the Christopher and Henry Oldfield Trust, the Ampney Brook Foundation, and Macdoch Foundation.
The campaign builds on BBH’s long-standing partnership with Chefs in Schools, bringing its experience in championing better food education and school food culture into a broader national movement.
New report from The Food Foundation* shows that improving the quality of school food significantly increases uptake, with case studies revealing rises from as low as 28% to as high as 90%. Similarly, Chefs in Schools has reported increased lunch uptake in 88% of its partner schools, alongside higher consumption of fruit and vegetables and greater willingness to try new foods.
BBH will lead a national campaign launching in September 2026, timed to coincide with the roll out of the government’s new standards. The campaign will aim to build public momentum and demonstrate what good school food can look like in practice.
Head of Campaigns at The Food Foundation, Jo Ralling said, “We’re beyond grateful to have BBH with such an outstanding reputation join forces with us. Their work is renowned to deeply resonate with audiences and make a difference, and that’s what we need to do to truly create the change we need and significantly improve children’s health. We’re very excited about what’s to come”.
Rolling out alongside the campaign, a broader programme of support will help schools and caterers improve food quality, increase uptake and embed better food education nationwide.
BBH CEO Karen Martin said, “Access to good food at school shouldn’t be a privilege; it’s fundamental to children’s health, development and ability to learn. We’ve seen that first-hand through our long-standing work with Chefs in Schools, so supporting the School Food Project was something we felt strongly about. This is about using creativity to help drive real, systemic change.”
