Shaping English Schools From The Inside: Chloe’s Journey
28 May 2026
How Bite Back activist Chloe led award-winning change as a School Food Champion, and her plan to make it national
Hi, my name is Chloe and I am a member of the Bite Back Youth Board.
For years, I noticed the same problem happening every single day at school: lunch. It was one of those things everyone talked about but nobody believed would ever actually change. It came up in school council meetings, surveys, random conversations in corridors — everyone was frustrated by it. The queues were too long, the food was unhealthy, the water fountains barely worked, and lunchtime felt more stressful than relaxing.
After a while, it started to feel like we were all trapped in this cycle where students kept speaking and nobody really listened. And honestly, that made me angry. Lunch is such a huge part of the school day. How are we supposed to focus in lessons when the one break we get feels rushed, chaotic, and ignored?
That was my penny drop moment.
I realised that waiting around for somebody else to fix it wasn’t going to work anymore. Nothing changes if everyone stays quiet. Speaking up felt scary, but staying silent felt worse. Looking back now, that moment completely changed everything for me.
As soon as I joined Bite Back, I threw myself into it. I started by observing the canteen and writing down everything I thought could improve. I wanted every student to feel involved because this affected all of us, so we created a form and sent it out across the whole school.
The response we got was incredible. 800 people had their say on our school food. It felt like a wave of student voices I hadn’t realised had the same view as me.
For the first time, I could properly see what students were thinking, not just through complaints in corridors but through actual evidence. And the weirdest part was realising how many people had completely given up believing things could improve. So many students were saying the same thing in different ways: “Nobody ever listens anyway.” That stuck with me, because I didn’t want people to feel like that anymore.
From there, things started moving quickly. I met with the head of the canteen to talk through ideas and hear their perspective too. I didn’t just want to demand change, I wanted to make it happen. I presented all of the survey results to my headteacher and later met with the council to talk about our progress and plans for the future.
I still remember how nervous I was walking into those meetings. At first, I felt completely out of my depth. Why would they listen to a 14 year old girl talking about lunch? I felt like my voice was much smaller than the room I was speaking in. But the more I spoke, the more I realised something important: people do listen when you speak with passion. Your age doesn’t make your experiences less real.
The Impact Of Bite Back In Schools
Unhealthy food is flooding our schools across England and it’s letting young people down.
After meeting with the council, we secured another £4,000 towards improving the canteen, and honestly, that was one of those moments where everything suddenly felt real. What started as frustration in a lunch queue had turned into actual change.
Since starting Bite Back in Schools, we’ve already made huge improvements around the canteen. Menus and price lists are now displayed around the school and on screens so students can actually see what food is available each day. We’ve spread awareness about meal deals so more students know the options accessible to them. Most importantly, the student voice has stayed at the centre of every decision we’ve made.
We’ve also ordered five new water fountains to replace the old broken ones around school. It sounds small, but it really matters in our school. Sometimes the biggest changes are the things people stopped noticing because they were so used to them being broken.
We are also about to trial forks made of recycled plastic created by students within the school to help lower the 12,000 forks that the canteen has to rebuy every year. That money can be used on things that actually make a real difference to students' lives instead of silently disappearing.
We have hired a new catering company that serves healthier food and has already introduced changes students asked for, like improving the lunch queue system and creating proper tray collection points so students no longer have to clear them themselves. Small changes added together started creating a completely different atmosphere around lunchtime.
Bite Back has been the best experience I have ever had. It pushed me out of my comfort zone in ways I never expected, but it also completely changed how I see myself. Before this, I would never have imagined confidently speaking in front of head teachers, council members, or leading meetings myself. Now, I’ve taken part in public speaking competitions and even written an article that helped our school receive a Healthy Food Award.
The biggest thing Bite Back taught me is that change doesn’t happen all at once. It happens slowly, in conversations, meetings, surveys, ideas, setbacks, and small wins that slowly grow into something bigger, like ripples in the sea. Every time somebody listened, every time something improved, it reminded me why I started.
Over the past six months, I’ve also become a Bite Back ambassador within my school, which has been one of the most rewarding parts of this whole experience. I’ve loved helping the younger team coming up behind me and leading sessions where I can share my experiences and advice with them.
The main thing I always tell them is, don’t wait. If something matters to you, speak about it. Even if your voice shakes. Even if you think nobody will listen at first. Because real change starts the second someone decides to stop staying silent.
After seeing the impact my voice could have within my own school, I realised I wanted to take things even further. That’s what inspired me to apply for the Youth Board. I want to use my voice on a bigger scale and help create change for even more young people, because every student deserves to feel heard, valued, and listened to.
Apply now
Bite Back in Schools is a fully-funded programme that empowers students to work together to lead canteen transformations. Ready for your school to have its moment?