Stakeholder perceptions of primary school education about food sustainability and farm animal welfare in England

Jones, Alice, P. McCulloch, Steven ORCID: 0000-0003-2161-1911 and J. Reiss, Michael (2025) Stakeholder perceptions of primary school education about food sustainability and farm animal welfare in England. Research in Science and Technological Education, 43 (3). pp. 718-737. ISSN 0263-5143

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Abstract

Background: There is growing consensus on the negative impacts of food production on the natural environment and planetary viability. UK society is also increasingly concerned about the impact of intensive farming systems on the billions of sentient farmed animals within them. In liberal democracies and capitalist economies, enlightened citizens and informed consumers are key to the solution to environmental crises, such as anthropogenic climate change. Despite this, there is minimal provision for food sustainability and farm animal welfare in England’s National Curriculum. Purpose: To investigate the views of stakeholders on the provision of food sustainability and farm animal welfare education in English primary schools. Sample: Ten stakeholders selected for their knowledge or interest in food sustainability and farm animal welfare education. Design and methods: In-depth, semi-structured interviews, analysed naturalistically within an interpretivist framework. Results: Barriers to teaching food sustainability and farm animal welfare reported by stakeholders were restraints caused by the curriculum, the need and lack of funding, a lack of teacher knowledge about the topic, and concerns about its controversy. Best methods identified for teaching were teaching from an early age and throughout all of schooling, adopting a cross-curricular approach, facilitating learning in a hands-on way, and not waiting for change from government reform. Conclusion: This research informs the debate on the provision of food sustainability and farm animal welfare education in English primary schools. Given that the environmental crisis is a global one, and that sentient animals are farmed across the world, the research may also inform discussion on inclusion of food sustainability and farm animal welfare outside of the English education context.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2024 The Author(s)
Divisions:	LSE
Subjects:	S Agriculture > SF Animal culture L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB1501 Primary Education
Date Deposited:	24 Nov 2025 12:18
Last Modified:	01 Dec 2025 18:03
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/130293

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