School Food Matters Chief Executive Stephanie Slater awarded MBE
Over the last 18 years, Stephanie has worked tirelessly to help shape a school food system where all children can enjoy nutritious, delicious, and sustainable meals - and leave school with an informed and positive relationship with food.
The honour comes at a pivotal moment for the school food movement. The government recently announced it will extend free school meals to all children from families receiving Universal Credit - a landmark policy shift long championed by School Food Matters and its partners.
In 2007, Stephanie began this journey as a concerned parent campaigning to improve poor-quality meals at her children’s school. Her work sparked a revolution in the local London borough and laid the foundation for School Food Matters, now a national charity and a leader in transforming school food across England.
The charity amplifies the voices of children, parents, and teachers to influence government policy, while also working directly with policymakers, local authorities, and schools to drive meaningful change.
Stephanie co-chairs the School Food Alliance and is a founding member of the School Food Review, which unites over 40 organisations working together to achieve lasting improvements in the school food system.
Starting out with barely a desk in a shared office space, Stephanie has grown the charity to more than 20 members of staff in London and 24 freelance project officers across the country. Its work now goes far beyond school meals, supporting children’s broader relationship with food.
Today, School Food Matters delivers fully funded food education programmes - involving hands-on cooking, growing, and food enterprise - in 14 cities across England, reaching over 300,000 children to date.
School Food Matters recently launched its 2025-2030 strategy, focusing on scaling impact to create a happier, healthier future for every child.
Stephanie’s MBE adds to a year of milestones, which also includes receiving an honorary doctorate from the University of Roehampton and being named a School Food Campaign Legend.
Rebecca O’Connell, SFM Chair of Trustees and Professor of Food, Families and Society at the University of Hertfordshire, said:
“It is magnificent that Stephanie’s tireless work to improve the lives of school children throughout England is recognised in this honour. Through its extensive grassroots work in school kitchens, canteens, classrooms and communities, School Food Matters has developed a deep understanding of the realities of school food provision and education – and mobilises this knowledge to campaign effectively at the highest levels for systemic, lasting, policy change.
“This award recognises that the charity’s growing success derives from Stephanie’s determination to actively put hope into practice, driving transformation to meet every child’s right to nutritious school food. Huge congratulations to Stephanie, on behalf of the board. We are proud and privileged to support your work.”
ENDS
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At School Food Matters we believe that school food can unlock a happier, healthier, more sustainable future for every child. We want a school food system that delivers for all children, so they can enjoy nutritious, delicious and sustainable school food and leave school with an informed and positive relationship with food.
To achieve this, we campaign for a better school food system, bringing the voices of children, parents, and teachers to government policy, and deliver fully funded food education programmes in schools across the country.