TastEd

TastEd Charity offering simple, easy-to-use food education that makes a huge difference to children’s lives

What do you remember learning about food from school? The food pyramid?Eat your 5 a day?Children have spent years being ...
28/09/2026

What do you remember learning about food from school?

The food pyramid?
Eat your 5 a day?

Children have spent years being told what they should eat. But has knowing the facts changed the way you eat? In many cases, nutrition education can sadly make some children in the class actually feel worse about themselves, if they are being told that the foods their parents serve them with love at home are the ‘wrong’ foods.

Food is about so much more than nutrition facts. It’s about enjoyment and direct sensory knowledge. To know a food is to know what a real ripe peach feels like. What a fresh carrot sounds like when you bite into it.

To know that when you bite into a sweet squashy plum there will be a stone inside (many children we have met in TastEd lessons do not know that cherries or plums contain stones because they have never had the chance to try them).

This kind of sensory knowledge can’t be learned from a food pyramid.

Children need opportunities to touch, smell, taste, explore and discover fruits and vegetables for themselves. When children become familiar with vegetables in a space where there is no judgment, they can build confidence, curiosity and enjoyment. We don’t tell children they are ‘wrong’ to love ultra-processed foods; we change the conversation by leading them to discover the joy of real foods.

Food education shouldn’t just teach children what is healthy. It should help them build a relationship with food that can last a lifetime.

The TastEd sensory food education resources - created by award-winning food writer Bee Wilson and illustrated by artist Annabel Lee - are free to all UK Nurseries and Primary Schools, find out more and sign up:

https://www.tasteeducation.com/sign-up/

At Ambler Primary School and Children’s Centre, food education starts early and grows with children. Through regular Tas...
23/09/2026

At Ambler Primary School and Children’s Centre, food education starts early and grows with children.

Through regular TastEd lessons, children explore food using all their senses, building curiosity, confidence and a positive relationship with what they eat.

From nursery pupils proudly trying something new at home to Year 6 children confidently talking about taste, smell and texture, Ambler shows what can happen when food education becomes part of everyday school life.

Read our blog to discover how Ambler embedded TastEd from Early Years to the end of primary school.

https://www.tasteeducation.com/how-ambler-primary-school-and-childrens-centre-is-embedding-tasted-from-early-years-to-the-end-of-primary-school/

You may have heard the news already. SCHOOL FOOD STANDARDS in the U.K. have had the biggest shake up for a generation an...
17/09/2026

You may have heard the news already. SCHOOL FOOD STANDARDS in the U.K. have had the biggest shake up for a generation and what this means for children - when they come into force in autumn 2027 - is healthier lunches which set children up for their day of learning and give them the nutrition they need.

School food is changing, with more fruit and vegetables, fibre, wholegrains and pulses on the menu.

Some schools are already leading the way. At TastEd ambassador school, Washingborough Academy, chef Pern bakes delicious wholemeal focaccia daily, ingredients are largely sourced locally and underpinning their whole school approach to food is TastEd.

Good food goes hand in hand with Taste Education at Washingborough.
What head teacher Dr Jason O’Rourke has seen in his school is that if you change the menu without also educating children about fresh produce - enabling them to smell it, touch it, taste it - some of the children will get left behind, even with the healthiest school lunch in the world.

Healthy food only counts when a child wants to eat it; otherwise it gets wasted and the child may go hungry. The new school food standards will only make children healthier when they actually develop a taste for the new foods on offer and this can be a tricky transition for children who don't eat many vegetables at home. Jason has seen that as a result of TastEd lessons, children eagerly help themselves to a range of different vegetables at the school salad bar every day.

In TastEd sessions, children regularly explore vegetables and fruits with all of their senses, without the pressure to try or like, giving them to agency to go at their own pace. They are introduced to new vegetables, become familiar with them, build new tastes and become confident, curious eaters.

This means when they are served their local, nutritious lunches, they actually want to eat it. Better food standards are crucial but helping children love healthy food can transform their relationship with food for life.

📸The salad bar at Washingborough, their delicious fruit desserts, and Pern's focaccia from flour to bread

Back to school means back to school meals and this year there’s been an important step forward. Free school meals have b...
11/09/2026

Back to school means back to school meals and this year there’s been an important step forward. Free school meals have been expanded to reach more children, meaning schools have a huge opportunity to make sure pupils can access nutritious food every day.

However, access is only part of the story. For children to benefit from nutritious school meals, they need time, confidence and curiosity to explore what’s on their plate.

That’s where sensory food education can make all the difference, helping children learn to love to eat different vegetables and fruits, some they might never have tried before.

TastEd is the missing part of the jigsaw when it comes to better school food. A child will only get the goodness of a healthy school meal if they actually want to eat it. Teachers have told us about children who actively started choosing salad and other vegetables as part of their school lunch after they had done a course of TastEd lessons.

The TastEd sensory food education resources - created by award-winning food writer Bee Wilson and illustrated by artist Annabel Lee - are free to all UK Nurseries and Primary Schools, find out more and sign up via the link in our bio 🧡

📸 Delicious school meal from our friends at Chefs in Schools

How does a cauliflower feel to you? Maybe it is bumpy and hard, like a dense sponge. Children in TastEd lessons touchin...
09/09/2026

How does a cauliflower feel to you? Maybe it is bumpy and hard, like a dense sponge. Children in TastEd lessons touching a cauliflower for the first time have described them as rough like sand paper, hard like a bouncy ball or bobbly like the edge of a swimming pool.

Many children in Britain have never tasted a cauliflower or an onion. But their disconnect from vegetables goes much further than this. They have also never so much as held one in their hands. They don't actually know these vegetables at all, except by name. And how can you like what you don't know?

In TastEd lessons, we find that touch is one of the best first steps for children to explore new vegetables because it can feel less scary than putting them in their mouths for the first time.

Touch can be a brilliant way to spark curiosity about vegetables at home too. Try touching a cauliflower with your child and discuss how it feels. Does it feel the same or different to broccoli with your eyes closed? Try nibbling a piece of raw cauliflower to see if the 'touch' (the texture) is the same in your mouth as it was in your hand.
Now try cooking it. If you've only ever eaten cauliflower in a cauliflower cheese, try roasting it. Break it into florets with your hands or a knife, noticing the rough feeling of the little white trees. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees C. Put the cauliflower on a baking tray lined with parchment and toss with 2 tbsp olive oil and a little salt and maybe some cumin seeds or a dusting of smoked paprika. Roast for 20-25 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Try to notice how the texture of the cauliflower has changed. How would you describe the touch of the cauliflower now? It should be both softer and crispier. And so sweet and delicious. Add a squeeze of lemon if you like.

24/08/2026

Try TastEd at home this summer holiday! It’s as simple as gathering a selection of different vegetables and finding the one with the loudest crunch.

Listen to the vegetables being chopped on a board. What do they sound like? Which was the loudest?

Now try eating some. Which crunches the loudest in your mouth? Try with your hands over your ears.

Remember the TastEd golden rules… No one has to try and no one has to like. If you don’t want to taste the food, try breaking it near your ear or to hear what it sounds like.

Which one was the loudest? Did any surprise you?

Teachers are sharing their feedback after a successful year delivering TastEd! 🥕🍎Sensory exploration and repeated opport...
17/08/2026

Teachers are sharing their feedback after a successful year delivering TastEd! 🥕🍎

Sensory exploration and repeated opportunities to experience a variety of foods can help children build familiarity, confidence and a greater willingness to try new foods.

We’re delighted to hear how TastEd is supporting learners to develop positive experiences with food.

This term, we've been taking TastEd into schools and nurseries in a more hands-on way 🍎 Alongside teacher training, we'v...
28/07/2026

This term, we've been taking TastEd into schools and nurseries in a more hands-on way 🍎

Alongside teacher training, we've been demonstrating lessons in the classroom and working alongside staff to help embed TastEd into everyday practice. Our free online resources are available for every primary school and nursery, but we've seen that the biggest impact comes when staff feel confident to deliver TastEd regularly themselves. By supporting teachers in the classroom, we're helping show just how simple, joyful and powerful sensory food education can be.

This work is part of Essex County Council Nourishing Our Future project, delivered in partnership with Anglia Ruskin University.

When children are given regular, positive opportunities to explore fruit and vegetables using all their senses, it can help change their relationship with food for life. 💚

Meet Dr Tim Gilson, our new Chair of Trustees 👋Tim brings a brilliant mix of education, leadership and charity experienc...
21/07/2026

Meet Dr Tim Gilson, our new Chair of Trustees 👋

Tim brings a brilliant mix of education, leadership and charity experience, and a love of growing, cooking and eating good food.

As a former school leader, he has experienced firsthand how transformative food education can be for children. And his work for community farms and care farms has shown him how much a child’s mental health can be boosted after a day spent in nature.

In TastEd lessons, teachers bring nature into the classroom (or the nursery) in the form of fresh vegetables and fruits and we feel very lucky to have Tim bringing his expertise and leadership to our project.

We’re excited to welcome him to TastEd as we continue helping children discover the joy of discovering new tastes through sensory food education 🍅🥕🍏

Tim’s favourite way to eat a carrot? Steamed with chopped parsley, alongside a roast dinner.

Welcome to TastEd, Tim! 💚

13/07/2026

When was the last time you really looked at an apple? Primary school children do in their TastEd lessons. They don’t just flecks of red and yellow, they see a sunset apple - or the stalk is a pony tail!

After looking carefully and coming up with rich metaphors and similes, anticipation builds, and most children become excited to give the apple a taste. Some children may not be sure, but after enthusiasm from their classroom of friends, they may feel brave enough to give it a try (even if they then realise they don’t like it).

That’s what TastEd is all about - exploring, building excitement and bravery! Today it might be a small taste of apple, but in a few years time, these small tastes could mean the difference between reaching for an apple when you want a snack, or being brave enough to try something you’ve never heard of.

What metaphors and similes can you think of to describe this apple’s fiery skin?

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Food Museum, Crowe Street
Stowmarket
IP14 1DL

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