Ultra-Processed Foods – Support our campaign to change school food.

Following the publication of our recent report, Good: Removing Ultra-Processed Food; we are asking parents across the country to support our campaign for change.

With ultra-processed foods found in 75% of current school meals, and proven to have damaging effects on long-term health, we want to better understand the needs, priorities and concerns in your community.

By organising a focus group with fellow parents, staff and pupils at your child’s school we can use your feedback to help shape the public sector supply chain, to move policy makers away from the ultra-processed food industry to fresh, locally produced meals and build evidence for why a social food model for public sector contracts is needed now.

What is a focus group?

A focus group is an informal research method involving a small group of people. Led by a moderator, participants are encouraged to discuss their thoughts, feelings and perceptions about an important issue in depth.

Planning your focus group

• The first step to planning a focus group is to draw up a list of possible invitees. We suggest aiming for six to ten participants covering as many different viewpoints as possible.

• Next, start recruiting people as soon as possible through as many channels as you can, that can be email, phone, social media or letter.

• When you get in touch with possible participants explain the purpose of the focus group, what you will be discussing, along with the date, time and location of your session.

• Finally, it’s a good idea to send all participants a quick reminder a day or two ahead of the focus group to ensure that they are still coming.

Running your focus group

To run a successful focus group you will need one, ideally two people, but the key is to make sure all participants feel comfortable expressing themselves freely. The person who leads a focus group is called a moderator. It’s their job to ask the right questions and keep participants focused, engaged and on topic.

Secondly, but just as importantly, you will need a note taker or something to record what is discussed. Whether written down, or filmed on a smartphone or tablet, this observes how participants are reacting and feeling.

After your focus group has finished, take time to write up a summary of the key information and the most important actions agreed by the group.

Finally, share your groups information & actions with us here, or via Socials – @CanCookWellFed, so we can work with you to guide the policy change needed to make sure children always eat the best food possible.