There are plenty of relevant higher education courses however you do not need a degree to work in sustainable food.
There are free or more affordable courses to study as one offs or over several sessions. For example, FutureLearn run self-paced Future Food courses.
Organisations in the sector regularly run training that are useful for personal and professional development. It’s worth signing up to newsletters and following organisations on social media to get updates. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Better Food Traders: betterfoodtraders.org/do-better-food-learning
- Food For Life: www.foodforlife.org.uk/
- Food Matters: www.foodmatters.org/our-work/courses-and-training
- Real Farming Trust: realfarming.org/programmes/college-real-farming-food-culture
- Soil Association: www.soilassociation.org/certification/events/
- Sustain: www.sustainweb.org/events/
Apprenticeships are a practical route that combine gaining a qualification with on-the-job experience. These will typically not focus on sustainable food production, unless you do something like the Level 1 Horticulture through a provider such as OrganicLea however they are a really good foundation to build on and gain transferable skills.
Explore the Institute of Apprenticeships to find relevant opportunities.
Another great way to develop skills and experience for sustainable food jobs is through volunteering. Look for opportunities on our jobs board as well as national website such as NCVO or Reach Volunteering or via your local online Volunteer Centre. Opportunities are also likely to be promoted in newsletters and on social media. If there are organisations that you’re interested in supporting or working for it is always worth emailing them directly as sometimes opportunities are not advertised.
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