📚 Save Big on Books! Enjoy 10% off when you spend £100 and 20% off when you spend £200 (or the equivalent in supported currencies)—discount automatically applied when you add books to your cart before checkout! 🛒

Copyright

Hilda Mary Mulrooney;

Published On

2025-07-02

Page Range

pp. 481–492

Language

  • English

Print Length

12 pages

40. Food for thought

Pandemic hope

  • Hilda Mulrooney (author)
Chapter of: Stories of Hope: Reimagining Education(pp. 481–492)
The pandemic simultaneously exposed long-standing weaknesses and sparked necessary innovations in education. As teaching and learning shifted online, many staff and students experienced a diminished sense of belonging, highlighting the fundamental importance of human relationships in educational environments. Food, with its multifaceted personal and cultural significance, emerged as a powerful tool for fostering connection and community. During the pandemic, food-related projects helped enhance belonging among staff and students, illustrating how shared experiences around food can build stronger interpersonal bonds and deepen cultural understanding. This chapter explores how food can continue to serve as a meaningful route to strengthen connections and cultivate a more inclusive and supportive educational experience.

Contributors

Hilda Mulrooney

(author)

Dr Hilda Mulrooney (she/her) is a nutritionist and dietitian with experience in primary care, public health and Higher Education. Until December 2023, she was Associate Professor in Nutrition at Kingston University London, a member of the Network of Equality Champions and the Faculty Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity action group. Since January 2024, she is Visiting Senior Fellow at Kingston University and Reader in Nutrition and Health at London Metropolitan University. She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Her pedagogic interests include perceptions of quality in Higher Education, what constitutes the ideal university, and understanding influences on belonging among students and staff. Her interest in food led her to explore how it could be used to enhance students’ and staffs’ sense of belonging to the institution during the pandemic. She is currently working on community food support initiatives such as food growing, including whether and how involvement in these projects builds a sense of belonging within and between communities (in and outside of Higher Education).