The Crunch

The Crunch programme was recently launched across the UK, funded and developed by the Wellcome Trust with a range of collaborating organisations. 

The Crunch aims to inspire everyone across the UK to consider the connections between ‘our food, our health and our planet’.  The intention is not just to inform, but to stimulate conversations and discussions about the problematic issues inherent in our current food system and what we can do as individual citizens, as organisations and at policy level to address these issues, or at least mitigate the impact of them.

Specifically, there are four components:

• Free science resources and teaching plans, which have been linked to the educational curriculums in each of the UK countries, have been sent to each and every school in the UK.
• Events and activities targeted at families will also be taking place throughout the year at science centres and museums across the UK and in local communities.
• Drama workshops, aimed at adults, to encourage different ways of thinking about food and the food system have taken place in a range of locations.
• 600 ambassadors have been recruited across the UK and now form a network of volunteers able to provide support and resources to engage local schools and communities in the programme. These ambassadors are people from different backgrounds who have offered to help start conversations about the connections between food, health and the environment with a range of audiences. 

The Crunch programme offers an excellent, well planned, clear and supportive approach to thinking about the food system, and its impact on both the environment and on our health. It offers a fantastic opportunity to stimulate and broaden the debate and encourage people to challenge their policymakers to do better. However, participation and involvement from individuals, communities and schools is important in driving this kind of change.