There are some mornings when you leave a room knowing something has started.
Last week was one of them.
We gathered chefs, caterers, street food traders and restaurant owners from Belfast and beyond — alongside Food NI, the Food Standards Agency, DAERA, Go Succeed, Belfast City Council and culinary students from Ulster University — for Small Plates, BIG Flavours, a morning dedicated to one question: how do we give children a better food experience?
Everyone in that room had a different job, but the same passion — improving what children eat, the choices they're given, and the memories they make around a table. And it quickly became clear we agreed on something bigger: children's menus are a small part of a vast subject, but they're a place where real change can start.
From small changes on children's menus to big ones like legislation, all present agreed that action was needed — and that collaboration is how we get there. We'll get further together. The talk stretched to whole family dining, cultural shifts, and the simple, powerful act of breaking bread across the table.
The students left with plenty of food for thought for their culinary futures. The rest of us left motivated, encouraged, and with new connections we can't wait to work with.
This work sits squarely within the Food Strategy Framework — and within Belfast Flavours' commitment to the future of the food, drink and hospitality industry in this city. Because children's right to healthy food, local ingredients and good nutrition is also the future of Belfast's food and drink industry.
Are you doing great things with your kids' menu? We want to hear from you. If you run a restaurant or food business and you're proud of your children's offer — or you want to be part of what happens next — get in touch with us at Belfast Flavours.
The conversation was honest about the scale of the challenge. Lynsey Hollywood shared stark statistics around the health impacts that a healthy, varied diet can help solve, drawing on her research into food outside the home. Stephen Ferris spoke about the view from both sides of the pass — as a chef and as a parent — and how the environment around a child, from how food is presented to the influence of their peers, shapes their willingness to try something new. Chef and advocate Suzie Lee brought insights from the brilliant work she's already doing in her local schools and beyond.
Caroline Wilson and Ciaran McLarnon kept the conversation flowing, sharing what we learned from our recent schools pilot with Cranmore Integrated Primary School — that what inspires children in the world of food is being involved: in the preparation, in the choices, and in understanding where their food comes from.
