Creative approaches to engaging children in food systems research
An analysis of children’s drawings from the Little Food Festival
Dr. Liza Barbour
Senior Lecturer, Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food, Monash University
The Little Food Festival is much more than a fun, educational and free event for kids. Our founding partners – Sandro Demaio Foundation, Fed Square and Monash University – set out to build food systems literacy amongst children, and we’ve been tracking this goal since our first festival.
Professor Deana Leahy from the Faculty of Education at Monash University was instrumental in ensuring food systems education was embedded into the festival days right from the start. She believes there’s an “opportunity to disrupt the ‘business as usual’ approach to food education and create a platform to cultivate food citizens who are invested in the work of advocating for change to improve health, equity and sustainability.”
How do we track this ambitious goal?
A team of researchers from Monash University have been exploring creative ways of engaging children in food systems research. Did you see our Little Food Researchers roaming Fed Square with their carrot and broccoli microphones? They were part of a project by Dr Rosie Welch for children to explore complex topics and build confidence as researchers and storytellers through film.
In 2023, we explored the level of food system literacy amongst children and families attending the Little Food Festival using another creative approach – children’s drawings. We wanted to understand children's perspectives about which actions they consider feasible and within their sphere of influence to improve our future food system.
We collected arrival surveys from 293 children and departure surveys from 83 children. Children involved in this research were aged between 2 and 14, with most (56%) in the 5–8 range.
Kids have some understanding of where their food comes from
When asked, “Where does your food come from?”, children most commonly responded with supermarkets (31%) and farms (19%). When prompted to list the people who helped get food onto their plate, children reported parents (58%), farmers (10%) and grandparents (10%).
We also asked kids what foods they think are important for our bodies and our planet. Their responses told us that they can recognise food as having a dual purpose – to support individual survival, health and well-being, as well as the ecosystem and the planet.
Festival attendees see lots of ways they can contribute to improving the food system
Children were asked “What is one action you will take to improve our food system?” and encouraged to draw a picture or write some words in response. After a rigorous thematic analysis of the drawings, we identified many actions that children considered feasible and within their sphere of influence. These activities were categorised within five main themes:
Gardening – growing own food, understanding plant needs, caring for plants
Food consumption – eating seasonal and local foods
Waste management – reducing food and packing waste in landfill, composting food
Behaviour change and advocacy – personal responsibility to protect nature and the need to influence others for greater impact and collective action
Respect and understanding of the natural ecosystem – conservation of natural resources, understanding life cycles and biodiversity in the food system
Our research so far has shown us just how important supportive environments are for empowering kids to take meaningful action as they grow into active food citizens – and how creative approaches such as the Little Food Festival can engage kids in transformative change for the better.
References
This blog is based on research from Monash University. Check out the full-text research article: Barbour L, Tan WC, Welch RK, Leahy D (2026), "Engaging children in food systems literacy research: an analysis of children's drawings from the Little Food Festival". Health Education, Vol. 126 No. 4 pp. 484–498, doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/HE-09-2025-0170
The author would like to acknowledge Wan Cin Tan (MND, APD) for her contribution as a student vacation scholar funded by the Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food in Monash University’s Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences.