The positive food experiences we foster in schools and universities prepare children and young adults to cope with significant transitions in life, like leaving home for the first time.

Initially, the kitchen may seem like an alien place, but the experience of eating and sharing good food around the table can boost confidence. Professor Margaret Hogg of Lancaster University sees food as symbolic of intergenerational transfer, when ‘someone moves from dependence to independence. They talk to their family members on the phone as they cook’. Dr Miriam Chaiken, the nutritional anthropologist, says that ‘eating and sharing food together is the ultimate human activity’.