Edge Hill University and Veganism in Education
Widening the Conversation: Ecological Education Through Veganism and Critical Food Pedagogies
This roundtable, Widening the Conversation: Ecological Education Through Veganism and Critical Food Pedagogies, brings together educators and researchers to explore how veganism—as both a values-led worldview and a site of critical pedagogical potential—can enhance ecological education across the curriculum. In collaboration with Teach VINE (Veganism in Education), the session foregrounds veganism not only within Religious Education and PSHE, but also in Geography, Art, Food Technology, and wider school practices.
The roundtable responds to the urgent need for schools to engage more meaningfully with the ethical and environmental implications of food systems. Drawing on interdisciplinary perspectives, contributors examine how food choices—often perceived as personal or apolitical—can instead be reframed as transformative tools for sustainability, justice, and wellbeing. Each presentation offers practical strategies, research insights, and classroom-based examples, highlighting how veganism can be introduced in inclusive, non-prescriptive ways that empower rather than alienate students.
The session explores themes including food justice, the climate crisis, biodiversity, land use, visual culture, and school food policy, positioning schools as powerful agents of cultural and ecological change. Through critical food pedagogies, schools can reimagine their role in cultivating compassion, reflexivity, and care—for the planet, animals, and each other.
The roundtable will be convened and concluded by Heather Marshall, who will offer connecting reflections and facilitate audience dialogue. Together, contributors will invite participants to consider how values-led education rooted in ecological awareness can support a more just and sustainable future.