City St George’s Food Policy Symposium puts professional cooks at the heart of food systems transformation

In her welcome address, Professor Christina Vogel, Director of the Centre for Food Policy, said:

“This is our annual event, and this year's topic is particularly important because it is not being discussed by policymakers. Cooking professionally in our schools, hospitals, prisons, restaurants, high streets and in our food factories is at its heart about nurturing people, and our food systems. Today we are coming together, discussing, coalescing, and finding out how we can really get behind professional cookery and celebrate professional cooks and chefs as food systems transformers with a united voice. Building the workforce capacity of teams working in kitchens and equipping them with skills and knowledge to address our current food systems challenges offers great co-benefits for policy, particularly in areas of skills, employment, health, the environment and economic growth.”

The keynote was delivered by Thomasina Miers OBE, co-founder of Wahaca and a vocal advocate for sustainable food systems. She said:

“Food is actually supposed to give nutrition to make you thrive, as opposed to the kind of foods that most of our population are now eating. In the UK, 57% of our shopping is classed as ultra-processed, and in this country, we have a particularly bad issue with ultra-processed food. That's completely different from Southern Europe. We need a better food system. We need to grow more food regeneratively, and we need to make the most of food and this can be achieved through innovation in our hospitality sector.”

Baroness Joan Walmsley, Chair of the House of Lords Food Diet and Obesity Committee 2024, said:

“There is clearly something wrong with a lot of what goes on in our food system at the moment. The government is concerned about food security, sustainability and affordability, but most of all about the healthiness of food, because food, of course, can be medicine, and it can also damage your health. Well, what does that mean? It means actually less sugar and less salt, less animal fat, more fibre and more vitamins. And really, all roads lead to more fruit, veg and more food cooked from scratch. But the pressures on domestic life are great and this opens the door for professional cooks.”

Packed programme

The symposium featured a rich programme of plenaries and workshops exploring how building workforce capacity in professional cookery can contribute to resilience, health and sustainability.

In the first plenary panel, experts including Stephanie Assmann-Terada (University of Hyogo, Japan), Jayne Jones (Public Sector Catering Alliance), Vince Kelly (Capital City College), Kate Nicholls OBE (Hospitality UK) and Professor Tim Lang (Centre for Food Policy) discussed why we need to build capacity in professional cooking for food systems transformation and raised a number of policy actions that could be leveraged.

Seven interactive workshops explored key themes:

• Career pathways, from schools and prisons to apprenticeships and higher degrees.
• Reframing public perceptions of chefs and professional cookery.
• Reimagining public procurement as a tool for sustainable and healthy diets and food systems.
• Building resilience across manufacturing, public catering and defence.
• Combatting ultra-processed foods through prioritising investment in fresh, minimally processed foods.
• The role of chefs in driving a societal shift towards low-carbon diets.
• Building workforce capacity in professional cooking to address staff shortages.

Speakers included representatives from Chefs in Schools, NHS England, Hackney School of Food, The Food Foundation, and more. International voices, such as Dr Taina Zaneti from Brazil’s University of Brasília, added a global dimension.

The second plenary panel, chaired by broadcaster Sheila Dillon, presenter of The Food Programme, tackled the question: “How can food policy support capacity building for cooks?” Contributors included Kemi Atijosan (Eagles Solutions), Juliane Caillouette-Noble (Sustainable Restaurant Association), Naomi Duncan (Chefs in Schools), Lauren Woodley (Nomad Foods), and Paul Newnham (SDG2 Advocacy Hub).

A call to action

Throughout the day, attendees discussed the patchwork of training and education currently available to cooks and chefs, calling for more coherent pathways, a revised curriculum that includes food systems issues like sustainability and nutrition, and greater recognition of cooks’ societal value so they are on a par with teachers and healthcare workers.

The event closed with remarks from Professor Martin Caraher.