Increased food literacy is linked to improved health outcomes, food security and food system sustainability (1). Childhood is a key period for developing foundational understandings of food systems and the critical tools required to navigate complex systems (2). The Little Food Festival is a free, two-day event in Melbourne that attracts over 15,000 children and family members. The festival is designed to engage children in play-based activities to develop food systems literacy and inspire young food citizens. In 2026, Monash University and Polyglot Theatre partnered to offer a new festival activation. Children were invited to enter Polyglot’s VoiceLab, a whimsical and colourful dome, to participate in a headset‑facilitated conversation. The interviewer prompted children to share their perspectives on the way they learn about food from their parents, peers and media, and examined their hopes and beliefs about shaping current and future food systems. Of the 98 children who participated in a conversation facilitated by the VoiceLab, 45 children aged between 5 and 13 provided consent for their audio recordings to be analysed for this research study. The line of questioning focused on six key areas: sensory exploration; food systems; sources of knowledge and media influence; school and home foodscapes; culture, identity and belonging; and the festival experience. Audio recordings were transcribed by two researchers and transcripts were thematically analysed using an abductive approach with iterative development and refinement of the codebook by four researchers. Four themes were identified: (i) food and food system knowledge, (ii) sources of food learning, (iii) critical and systems food literacy and (iv) affective and relational qualities of food. Three key insights emerged. First, children demonstrated strong functional food literacy from a young age; however their food systems literacy was less developed. While children could identify individual elements of the food system, few recognised the relationships and interdependencies between these elements. Second, children’s food learning occurred across overlapping social worlds and the wider food environment. These sources interacted and, at times, competed in shaping children’s understandings of food. Third, the conversations demonstrated children’s awareness of food inequality and justice, alongside concern for people, animals, and the planet in relation to food. Children were able to articulate their hopes and beliefs about the future of food. One ten-year-old suggested “No harvesting more than what you need” and another child declared “I'd make sure everyone has enough food to stay healthy and fit,” highlighting children’s values of fairness, care and responsibility. This child-centred research highlights the need to foster coherence across children’s food learning environments and create opportunities for children to exercise agency and contribute to shaping food systems.