Thursday 30 July 2026 · Our third annual Futures Summit
Food Ladder Futures Summit Report 2026
Pacific Pines State High School · Gold Coast
This report shares what the 2026 Summit reveals about Food Ladder’s value, reach and momentum: evidence of a proven, growing movement, and an invitation to the schools, communities and partners who can help it scale.
Reach & momentum
The Summit is a snapshot of a national program that is growing, deeply connected and in demand, with Food Ladder greenhouses operating in schools from Broome to the Gold Coast, and Tassie to Sydney’s CBD, backed by a widening community of partners.
The program behind the Summit
In the room at the Summit
Existing, onboarding and prospective Food Ladder schools were all represented. Several prospective schools asked to join on the day, a live signal of demand and pipeline.
Spotlight outcomes
Teacher feedback, reported directly from the end-of-summit survey.
strongly agreed the Summit strengthened their connection to the national Food Ladder community.
School Ignite
The most valued part of the Summit, ranked number one on the day with 95 % top marks. Across two rounds, seven Food Ladder schools shared how the program comes to life in their own setting. In their words:
Wellington Public School · NSW“Our attendance has gone from 30 % to over 90 %. They do not like to miss a Food Ladder kitchen garden lesson, and they’re always happy when they’re in there.”
Park Ridge State High School · QLD“In Year 11 this student’s attendance was 34 %, on the cusp of dropping out. In Year 12 he joined the horticulture program, had 100 % attendance every Wednesday, and moved into a career pathway in landscaping. A real success story.”
Phoenix P-12 Community College · VIC“25,000 serves of veg went into those little tummies, and for the most part they didn’t even know they were getting it. In that first year we served 9,000 healthy lunches, all for free.”
Coomera State Special School · QLD“Our greenhouse is much more than a growing space. It’s an authentic learning environment that brings the curriculum to life. One student struggles in the classroom, but out there she’s a gun in the kitchen, and now cooks at home too.”
Beaudesert State High School · QLD“Students created the menu, planted what we needed to grow to meet it, and cooked the food for the event. We sold a hundred tickets to a three-course meal, and everything served was produced at our school.”
Pacific Pines State High School · QLD“I just want our students to know that this is probably the future of food. We were thinking about futures, opportunities and pathways. That’s just what really drives me.”
School awards
Now in its third year, the Food Ladder School Awards celebrate the schools bringing the program to life. This year’s winners were announced at the Summit, each receiving a plaque mounted on the front of their greenhouse.
Outstanding integration across the school
Park Ridge State High School · QLD. For weaving Food Ladder through the whole school, from horticulture to real career pathways.
Best news story
Phoenix P-12 Community College · VIC. 25,000 meals grown and served in its very first year.
Community Roots Award
Mooroopna Park Primary School · VIC. A new category this year, for a greenhouse built with the Greater Shepparton Lighthouse Project, Rotary and local volunteers.
What this tells us
The findings point beyond a successful event to the strength of the wider program.
100 % of teachers felt more connected
The Summit is a gift inside the program, offered free to every Food Ladder school: a national professional development conference held in the most disadvantaged and diverse communities in the country. Each year, more schools choose to send their teachers, because they see the value the program brings. This is how we invest in our Food Ladder communities.
“Food Ladder is one of the most important organisations helping bridge the gap for our kids and build a successful future for all.”
The gaps Food Ladder bridges are real and specific:
Access to fresh food · student disengagement · food & nutrition literacy · hands-on learning · wellbeing · pathways to employment · equitable access to innovative education
Inspiring and usable
That 92 % of Food Ladder teachers left with practical ideas and 89 % see the Food Ladder EdTech platform helping them deliver shows the model isn’t only motivating, it’s actionable. It lowers the barrier for schools to start and sustain a program, and directly reduces teacher workload, the single biggest constraint schools name.
The evidence base · University of Sydney
Just 4.6 % of Australian children meet vegetable-intake guidelines, and only 3.2 % of First Nations children. Food Ladder is a practical, local response to a national gap.
Voices & what’s next
In participants’ own words, and the concrete steps they left ready to take.
Reflections on Food Ladder“The entire Food Ladder team is so true to their mission, we know that Food Ladder really cares.”
On what Food Ladder does for kids“Kids who don’t shine in the classroom are often stars in the Food Ladder greenhouse.”
Prospective schools“We would feel privileged to be a Food Ladder school, and to see how valuable it would be for our whole community.”
On easing teacher workload“The easing of the workload for teachers through the AI lesson plans will be invaluable to teachers who are already time poor.”
What schools & partners will do next
Next stop, 2027. The Summit hits the road again, with our sights set on Victoria, where new Food Ladder clusters are taking root around Shepparton and its surrounds.
The opportunity
Every Food Ladder greenhouse changes what’s possible in a school, and the Summit made one thing clear: the need has never been greater.
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Demand is high. Hundreds of schools want a Food Ladder greenhouse, far more than we can deliver alone.
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The need is deepening. The scale and depth of food insecurity in Australian communities is getting worse, making it one of our generation’s most interconnected social, health and education challenges.
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A proven, scalable solution. Food Ladder already operates in 60 + schools nationally, with a track record of results and a model built to scale.
Our partners
- Greater Charitable Foundation
- Ian & Shirley Norman Foundation
- JAAM Foundation
- Macdoch Foundation
- Boyer Family Foundation
- Douglas Family Foundation
- Saville Family Foundation
- Neilson Family Foundation
- David Henning Memorial Foundation
- Waratah Education Foundation
- Stan Perron Charitable Foundation
- Brian M Davis Charitable Foundation
- AMP Foundation
- Six Esses
- Morrison & Co
- Resimac
- IBM
- CSIRO
- Norton Rose Fulbright
- University of Sydney
- University of Southern Queensland
- Telethon
- Healthway
- Down the Track
Partner with us
With the right support from government and philanthropy, we can reach hundreds more schools and the communities that need them most. To start a conversation, contact Lucy Payne, Head of External Engagement & Strategy.
Start a conversationStatistics from the Summit exit survey (Slido, 30 July 2026). Quotes are anonymised attendee responses, shared with consent. Program figures per Food Ladder impact reporting.