Abstract
ECEC food environments are uniquely positioned to support sustainability by implementing practices that can reduce environmental impacts while creating meaningful opportunities for children to experience and explore the interconnections between people, animals, plants, lands and water through food.
The Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) (Version 2.0) recognises sustainability as an important consideration for children’s learning and development and that educators and children have active roles to play in contributing to more sustainable communities.1 Through the food provided, mealtimes, and food education, ECEC services can provide meaningful opportunities for children to experience and engage with sustainable food practices.
This Sustainable Food Practices (SFP) module aims to:
Support ECEC services to embed sustainable food practices that are practical, achievable and aligned with everyday service operations.
Provide support for ECEC services to reduce the environmental impacts of food through practical strategies such as reducing food waste, considering food sourcing, protecting biodiversity and minimising unnecessary packaging where appropriate.
Provide practical guidance on applying sustainable food principles within food provision – including whole, minimally processed foods and plant-based foods such as vegetables, where appropriate.
Encourage sustainable food practices that strengthen connections with local communities and encourage the use of seasonal and locally available foods, where practical.
Provide guidance on planning, establishing and maintaining food gardens, including consideration of safety, risk assessment and risk management.
Support educators, cooks and service leaders to create meaningful opportunities for children to engage with sustainability thorough everyday food experiences, including mealtimes, food education and gardening.
Keywords
early childhood education, food environment, food practices, practical strategies, sustainable food principles, mealtimes
Document Type
Other
Date of Publication
2026
Type of File
Publisher
Edith Cowan University
School
School of Medical and Health Sciences
Version
1
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Copyright
© Edith Cowan University 2026
Content Type
Full object
First Page
1
Last Page
96
Recommended Citation
Sustainable Food Practices Consortium. (2026). The best practice guide for early childhood education and care food environment: Module 5: Sustainable food practices (Version 1.0). Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia. https://doi.org/10.25958/5aqk-as84