People

Having held fundraising and digital roles in the non-profit sector for 10 years, Gina joined Bite Back from Canal & River Trust, and previously co-founded a grassroots campaign to raise awareness of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. "Giant food companies infiltrate youth culture to put their products in the spotlight, without any concern for their effect on the future health of young people or the planet. It's poisoning art, music, and fashion," she says. "I'd like to see colourful, delicious and nutritious meals everywhere – and for them to be affordable."

Proudly part of the Bite Back movement since the very start, Nika wrote our reports on school food and misleading packaging claims – and leads our Food Systems Accelerator programme. She previously worked on advocacy for organisations such as the Elton John AIDS Foundation and Movember. "I don't want to see family members tricked by 'health claims' into purchasing sugary products anymore," she says. "People should have the freedom to choose food that makes them feel good, not just what's cheapest and is advertised the most."

Cute, colourful, clever marketing for junk makes Hannah angry daily: "Our safe spaces are invaded with free Coca-Cola giveaways, Red Bull-sponsored competitions, and 50%-off Domino's promotions," she says. "The Kellogg's 'red swimsuit' haunted my teenage years: I shovelled spoonfuls, bowlfuls, of Special K into my mouth in an attempt to change my body. Young people should be able to walk down a supermarket aisle without being misled that yoghurts full of sugar are '76% milk', and go about their lives without junk food giants preying on them."

Before joining Bite Back, James was CEO of Ambition Institute, helping grow it into the largest leadership development charity in education. "As a parent, I notice it when I take my kids round the supermarket," he says. "Shopping feels like a constant battle to pull them away from the unhealthy products targeted at them. Unhealthy options flood our streets, screens and schools: young people are so overwhelmed by the bombardment that they can't see or think of alternatives."

Overseeing our new youth boards in Manchester and Liverpool, Rachel has experience mentoring and promoting life skills in various youth settings – most recently as a project leader for mentoring charity ReachOut UK. "You can't go anywhere, or watch anything, without being told you're craving something and need to eat it now," she says. "And the lack of transparency of ingredients is frustrating. The other day I realised that the rock salt I bought wasn't just salt: it has anti-caking agent in it. What even is that?"

Bringing a wealth of digital knowledge, Christin joined us from Raleigh International – where she helped young people commit to life-changing volunteering experiences. Away from work, she acts in independent stage and screen productions, and adores her five fur-babies – two rabbits, three guinea pigs, all named after gods. "It's insidious how big food companies manipulate us into buying their products while washing their hands of all responsibility," she says. "From Doritos-themed lip balm at Claires to the latest KFC collab at Primark, the commercialisation of junk food has reached new heights."

With 10 years experience as a youth worker, mentor and facilitator, Aaron has also written two books encouraging children to express themselves and be creative, touching on themes of diversity and inclusion. "It's disappointing and frustrating to see children as young as toddlers targeted by big food companies," he says. "My two-year-old daughter has colourful products packed with sugar and salt put in her eye-line: an intentional move to build a connection with her. This is manipulation at its worst."

Originally hailing from Zimbabwe, Emmanuel gained valuable experience in Africa providing free school meals for a local boys orphanage. Now based in Yorkshire and the Humber, the young activist maintains a passion for tackling food injustice – an excellent fit for Bite Back's drive for free school meals, as well as many other campaigns and events. Emmanuel loves this opportunity to make an impact in a real and viable way: "It's one of the greatest things I've ever been able to do."

Aspiring teacher Victor loves debating, art and songwriting, and enjoys discovering different cultures and languages. A keen human rights activist, the London-based campaigner was inspired to join Bite Back after first-hand experience of the struggle for kids from low-income families to access healthy, nutritious food: "My family went through a really tough period when I was younger," recalls Victor. "We were using food banks, and relied on free school meals to get through the day. It was our only guaranteed healthy nutritious meal."

At school, Anisah was limited by a lack of halal or non-dairy foods: "I was called a picky eater, but really I had my options taken away. To this day I can't bring myself to eat another jacket potato or plain pasta," says the London-based campaigner. An aspiring doctor, Anisah founded AI-powered mental health app Eleos – and has also created a successful hub to equip young people with the knowledge and resources to create their own social action projects.

Nutrition graduate Faheemah enjoys kicking out manipulation in our food culture as much as she enjoys kicking (for training purposes) outside of Bite Back. As our Communications Executive, she looks after our website and emails. "Children are left out of school meals because of bad eligibility criteria, yet a barrage of rubbish is paraded in front of them by big food companies," says Faheemah. "They need breathing space to grow, rather than worrying about food – a basic human right – and where their next meal is coming from."